Jagged Fate
by AnimeAries402
Summary: Rogue has stopped taking care of herself as a result of rather strange dreams. And when she finally collapses, the one to catch her is none other than the Cajun master thief. But is there more going on? Full Summary inside. Romy undergoing revisions
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Rogue has gotten frequent nightmares lately, causing her to stop taking care of herself. All of her closest friends have noticed, and just when she collapses from the stress, the one there to catch her is none other than the one and only Cajun master thief. But is there a reason behind his visit? And what is causing Rogue to act the way she is?

* * *

Thump-thump. 

Thump-thump.

Her heartbeat was pounding so loudly, that she could hear it.

Thump-thump.

The muscle inside her chest beat heavily, throbbing against its cage of ribs. An ache was felt through her entire breast, heaving uncontrollably. Breath caught in her throat, tight as she pulled for air. Dizziness filled her mind, as it clouded over with her fatigue.

The wind ran through her extremely long hair, the sting of the cold ripping at her body. Loose clothes fluttered with the wind, straining against her form. Things whipped past her as she crossed the plains swiftly, not even looking at the trees in the forest around her. She almost flew past everything.

Feet pounded with an ache, and her leg muscles strained with pain. But she kept running. Head swirled with a daze, though through all of it she kept going. Her breaths were so loud that she heard them, as well as her heart.

All she felt was extreme pain, but she continued to go.

And then, it all stopped.

* * *

Rogue's eyes shot open as she gasped for breath and sat up in bed. Heaving for her relief, she clasped her chest tightly. Trying to regain her calmness, she noticed that the alarm was going off, sitting next to her bed. She reached over, and slammed her hand down to turn it off. 

Light was shining through the window, and she saw her roommate stir in her sleep, her own alarm going off. She was still in her room in the mansion. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she cursed the early summer heat. She hoped someone got the air conditioning fixed before they got home.

Kitty, groaning from under the covers, sat up as she woke. Still half asleep, she didn't notice her friend's alertness. "Morning already?"

Swallowing, Rogue nodded and shook her head. "Yeah," she said, voice thick with accent as she pulled the covers off, and she slipped out of bed. "We gotta get up."Her friend stood and waved her off as she got to her dresser. "Go have the bathroom–I still have to find something to wear."

Rogue nodded as she stood and went over to the bathroom. She paused at the door and turned. "Did ya... sleep alright last night?"

"Yeah," her roommate replied over her shoulder. "Why?"

"Nothin'," she replied. "It's nothin'."

She slipped inside, her roommate watching her with a raised eyebrow.

* * *

Damn that woman. 

That was the only thing on his mind. Every time that he got to forget about her, she came back into his life, deviously creeping back into his mind. Why couldn't she just go away? She had a good enough life without having to screw around with his. It wasn't like he did what he did to her on purpose.

This was all her stupid brother's fault.

Her newest target just happened to be someone that he owed a debt to; the untouched Rogue. She'd helped him with Jean Luc, now it was his turn to return the favor. If that required he keep an eye on her, he would.

The instant he found out, he'd left Louisiana, and made it to Bayville. He was unaccustomed to the city, but he'd find himself a way to adjust. His chère needed protection, from whatever it was that _she_ was throwing at her.

* * *

Kitty pulled a shirt over her head as the door to the bathroom opened. A comb in her mouth and her hands holding her hair, she turned to find Rogue coming outside. Her hair was still damp, but her makeup was applied more heavily than usual that morning. Her clothing was... interesting to say the least–more or less dangerous. 

Her brow wrinkled as she tied her hair back. "You're wearing _that_?"

It was a nicer corset top, the bodice nicely detailed with lace, but it only had two thin straps at the shoulders holding it up. Her jeans came up to her hips, belly shown slightly.

Rolling her eyes, she went over to her dresser. "No," she said, fishing through a drawer. "That would be just stupid. Ah don't wanna kill anybody."

She pulled on gloves that came up to her high arm, almost to her shoulder. Still, her shoulders were bare, and it was enough to touch someone. Kitty made a face. "Alright," she said. "If you say so. But watch out, okay? I have enough trouble as it is."

Rogue cracked a grin as she picked up her bag. "Lance?"

Her roommate blushed, but then turned away and shrugged. "Maybe."

Again, she rolled her eyes. "Ya two don't get married and hava' bunch o' kids, I'm gonna touch ya both," she warned as she headed for the door.

Gapping, Kitty turned, her roommate leaving. "Hey! Stop making fun!" Turning, she crossed her arms and grumbled. "Besides, hasn't even done more than a kiss on the cheek..."

* * *

Boots trudged down the steps as she made it into the kitchen. She went inside, noting how that it was still early and that she could grab some coffee before taking her time to get to school. She went inside and reached for a mug, but almost dropped it when hearing a voice. 

"You're up early."

At the grumble, she turned and breathed in heavily. "Ya like scarin' people?"

Logan shrugged, sipping on a soda–the closest thing he could get to a beer. He sat at the counter, as she poured her coffee and took a sip. "It's what I do best." As she stood there quietly, he looked her up and down. "What's up with this? Late nights, early mornings. Makeup can't hide those bags."

She avoided his gaze. The nightmares had been going on for a while. Actually, they'd been going on for weeks. It messed with her sleep a lot. She was surprised she had managed to go this long without a full eight hours of sleep every night. The coffee was the only thing keeping her going.

Apparently he'd noticed she wasn't sleeping.

Rogue shrugged and shook her head. "Studying, that's all," she replied, still not looking at him. She downed the last of her cup and sighed. "Got exams you know."

He nodded, but didn't look impressed with her answer. "Fine, fine."

She smirked, but it was gone as soon as it came, heading for the door. "Ah'll see ya later."

Shaking his head, Logan took a sip from his drink. "Hope you know what's up, prof."

* * *

"This heat's killer, no?" 

Almost as if her adoptive brother was reading her mind, Rogue nodded in agreement. Walking through the halls, Kurt walked beside her as he rested his arms behind his head. She didn't say anything, but groaned a reply, "Mm."

"One thing I don't like about summer–the heat," he continued. He raised an eyebrow, as they turned a corner, and she headed down the hall. "Where are you going? The cafeteria's the other way," he said, pointing to the direction that he'd been going originally.

She shook her head. "Not hungry," she said.

He crossed his arms. "And you haven't been for a few days," he said, brow wrinkled as he put his foot down on his words. "You've been skipping meals, Rogue. That's not healthy."

"Ah just have to cram, that's all," she said, looking over her shoulder. "We all have to graduate, ya know. Ah'm heading to the library."

Kurt made a face of concern, but then shrugged. "Alright. At least let me buy you a drink," he offered. "To get something in you."

She nodded. "Juice's fine."

As she turned another corner, she left him to stand there alone. His brow wrinkled again, this time from confusion. "The library's the other way," he mumbled quietly.


	2. Chapter 2

Jagged Fate

With a sigh, Rogue dropped her bag on the grass. She couldn't think–maybe it was the lack of sleep. She wasn't exactly sure why, but she'd been feeling a little fuzzy all day. She almost didn't even decipher what people were saying. Turning, she fell to a sit and laid down in the shade. Maybe sleep would do something for her.

The quiet was wonderful–the noisy hallways getting annoying after a while. So, with a sigh, she laid down on the grass, closing her eyes as she finally closed her eyes. Her breathing became steady as she tried to clear her head from thoughts, before she finally fell asleep.

* * *

For a split second, she looked like she was at peace. She looked that way, anyway. That didn't mean she was. As she lay there, he could see the pain cross over her face, causing her sleep to be interrupted once more. Her eyes were closed tightly, once beautifully sculpted with her long lashes. Again, she was experiencing some kind of torment.

Gambit shook his head, relaxing in the tree that stood next to the spot where Rogue had taken refuge. He sat with his back to the trunk, one leg propped up on the sturdy branch he sat on, with his arms crossed over his chest. He was hidden in the shadows, red eyes only seen if looked hard enough.

From over his shoulder, he looked down to her. For a while he'd been watching her, that was all, nothing more. He needed to keep a constant eye on her, with the threat on her shoulders like she had. He noticed her habits had gone bad; no eating, hardly any sleep. He'd seen her stomach–her rib cage had been sticking out slightly.

The body didn't run without the things she wasn't giving to it and sooner or later, she was going to fall. He'd be there when that happened.

She wasn't healthy, and she knew it. What was worse, was that she insisted that she was fine, when everyone around her knew she wasn't either. She was down to skin and bones, the bags under her eyes were visible even with the amount of makeup she applied.

He shook his head. That was another thing; she didn't need all that makeup. He'd seen her with her face unmade. He thought she looked fine. The red of her natural lips looked so much better than the black lipstick she insisted upon wearing. Black, even if it was her color, didn't do too much. Now, against her other skin, that was another story. It brought out the natural paleness of her genetics, the soft white the color of lily petals...

Again, Gambit shook his head, but this time to clear it. He couldn't be thinking those things; she was his charge to look after, nothing more. It was dangerous to go into that territory–especially with her case. One touch could be the life of him. He supposed that was the reason she was so more intriguing.

In her sleep below, she twisted and turned. Whimpers escaped from her mouth as she writhed below, holding herself as she trembled. Her lithe form was intoxicating, making him force back a groan–she'd be a wild cat in bed.

Another whimper snapped him from his gaze. He _couldn't_, he wouldn't go there. It was dangerous for everyone–including her. She was bordering the line of jail-bait, even though legal. Still, in normal circumstances, no average eighteen year old looked like she did.

Only in his dreams, only in his dreams.

And on that note, he turned his attention back onto his charge, watching as another one of those nightmares filled her.

* * *

Again, she was in pain. Muscles throbbed, bones ached and limbs were all out numb. Still, she ran through the wind, it coercing through her long hair. Wind stung her skin as she flew through the trees. The dark sky above her was black and endless. She ran in no planned direction. But still, she ran.

She ran as fast as she could, fleeing from something. She was scared, frightened, down right horrified. Whatever was behind her, whatever was back there, was something she never wanted to face again. She wanted freedom, just to get away from that.

Faster and faster she went, her feet barely even touching the grass as she dashed. Lungs were burning with pain, as she heaved in and out for air. They begged that she stop, pleaded she'd slow, but she continued to move.

The face of a woman appeared in her way, her blond hair blinding the path as she cackled maliciously.

* * *

With a gasp, Rogue's eyes snapped open. She sat up and heaved for air once more. Her shoulders huffed up and down, her breaths coming out as pants. Looking around, she found she was in the school grounds once more.

She swallowed, and wiped the sweat from her brow. Why wouldn't these dreams stop? They weren't dreams, she corrected, they were nightmares. She closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply through her nose to steady her breathing. This stress wasn't good for any aspect of her.

Finally, she looked around and stood, brushing the dirt off her clothes as she prepared to go inside. She was just about to reach for her bag, when a voice stopped her.

"Ya know, lyin' to friends 's one thing–family's another."

She turned around quickly to face the form that she hadn't noticed sneak up on her. She'd recognize that Cajun accent anywhere. Her eyes narrowed on the form of a man with his shoulder leaning against the tree, red eyes gleaming from the shadows. She could see the form of a smirk beneath the darkness.

Her eyes narrowed. "Gambit."

The thief presented himself, and bowed at the waist. "Remy LeBeau, at your service, _mademoiselle_," he replied, keeping his gaze locked on his. "Well, mon chère, it seems _vous _'ave been well since Ah've been gone," he said, as he rose and looked her straight in the eye.

Rogue couldn't ignore his sarcasm. She let her lip snarl as she picked up her bag and placed it over her shoulder, arms crossing angrily. "What da ya want, swamp rat?" she hissed.

He placed a hand over his heart as he took a step closer, shaking his head. His expression _looked _hurt. "My, my, 's this all Ah get after all 'he time we spend apart?" Gambit pouted. "And 'ere I only come for a visit."

Her eyes narrowed. "Why don't Ah believe you?" She rolled her eyes, and didn't wait for an answer. "Maybe, 'cause you're stockin' m' now."

Gambit blinked innocently. "Whatever do ya mean?"

"You said Ah was lyin', right?"

"_Oui_."

"Why?"

He chuckled. "Sayin' ya' fine, when we all can see ya' in bad shape," he shook his head as he sighed. "Lyin' ta _ton frère_?"

She smirked. "And how'd ya know that 'less you stockin' me?" she retorted. "'Honesty, can't ya do ah little betta than that?"

A wicked smile formed on his face as he came up to her, leaning in closely. "Merely observation, ma chère," he whispered. "Observation."

She shrugged as though she didn't care and looked away. "If ya wanna get technical, go ahead," she bit back, closing her eyes and facing the other way.

A hand firmly held the top part of her arm. Though gentle, the grip hurt more than it should have. She winced as he made her face him, forcing her to look at him as he used one of his gloved fingers to direct her chin upwards. For a moment, he just looked at her, eyes gazing into hers.

Her knees buckled. She didn't want to admit it, but he really did have the most incredible eyes she'd ever seen. They were so beautiful, in their own way. And just the sight of them made her feel better, even if she didn't appreciate what came with it.

Finally, he inhaled and spoke. "Ah ain't blind, sugga," he said softly, the words rolling off of his mouth nicely. "And Ah know a lie when Ah hear one."

She finally pulled her arm out of his grip, ripping her gaze away from his own. "Ah'm fine," she muttered. "Ah said Ah'm fine, and Ah am." She swallowed again. "And if ya'd just go away, Ah gotta get ta class."

He stepped back, hands up in defense. "Fine, fine," he said. "But, chère, lyin' to ya-self is 'he worst thing ya can do."

As Gambit turned away, she saw the tails of his coat catch in the breeze. Again, in her mind, the image of long blond hair flashed before her eyes. She winced as she closed her eyes, hand to her forehead. Shaking the image from her head, she almost didn't see as someone approached.

"Rogue!"

As Jubilee ran up to her, she blinked and smirked. Her friend smiled, slowing down from her jog. "Hey," she mumbled.

"There you are!" her friend exclaimed, gripping her arm. "Everyone's been looking for you. Come on, we're gonna be late for class."

She nodded. "Alright, just hold on a minute," she said, holding up her hands.

Rogue looked back to see Gambit once more, only to find that he'd disappeared. She looked around, brow wrinkling as she took a step towards the trees. Her friend gave her a look as she went up to something that was sitting on the ground. "Rogue?"

She bent over to pick it up, the card. The King of Hearts. On the back, she saw his scribbled handwriting. "Now you have a matching set, chère."

Hiding it in her pocket before Jubilee could see, she smiled at her. "Nothin'," she said. "Honestly, nothin'. Let's go inside."

* * *

Biting the inside of his cheek, Kurt searched the crowd of gathering students, all of whom managed to fill the entire front area of the school. It was the end of day, end of classes, but still there were people who lingered. His eyes searched the crowd as he looked over the various people there.

Still, he couldn't find who he was looking for.

Finally, he spotted a familiar face. It wasn't who he was looking for but maybe they could help. So, he went up and interrupted the conversation. "Kitty?" he said. "Sorry to interrupt–can I ask you something?"

The brunette turned, stopping in the middle of her conversation with Lance to look at him. She held up a finger to her boyfriend, before she turned to Kurt. "Yeah?" she asked, blinking curiously.

"You've seen Rogue anywhere?" he asked.

Shaking her head, she looked down a little. "Sorry, haven't seen her since I got up this morning," she said, hand going to her hip. "Isn't she in one of your classes?"

"Well, yeah, but she ditched me for lunch," he replied, scratching the back of his head and making a face with a thought. "I don't know what happened after that."

"Rogue?" Lance asked, actually paying attention to the conversation. His girlfriend turned to him. "Saw her leave a few minutes ago." He nodded in the direction of the mansion.

Kurt nodded. "Thanks."

"What's wrong?" Kitty asked, as he started to leave.

"Don't know," he said over his shoulder. "I'm trying to find out–she's been acting weird."

As he disappeared into the crowd again, the phase-shifter made a face of confusion. Sighing, Lance rolled his eyes. "Go ahead and run after him--ask him what's wrong with Rogue," he muttered.

She smiled, reaching up to kiss his cheek. "Thanks–call you later!" she exclaimed, running after her friend.

* * *

With a huff, Rogue pressed her hand to the wall to steady herself. Again, for the forth time, she wiped sweat from her brow. The heat was really something, Kurt hadn't been kidding. And with all the black she was wearing, even if it was sleeveless, was still black.

Her vision was beginning to grow blurry, and she couldn't ignore the awful pains coming from her stomach. With one arm hugging her belly, she limped her way down more, trying to get further towards the mansion. She needed sleep–badly.

But as she turned a corner and headed into the park, her eyes got worse. Everything became double as she looked around. She couldn't think, couldn't move. What was happening to her. Before she knew it, she felt herself falling, and then nothing at all.


	3. Chapter 3

Would Rogue have been alone, she most likely would have fallen on her face. But then, she wasn't exactly _alone_, if that's how you wanted to say it. Nonetheless, he caught her right before she wobbled to over and fell to the ground.

His arms wrapped delicately around her waist, holding her like she'd break. Gambit made sure to take particularly special care to handle her. She felt as though she would break if he made any sudden movements. It was almost as if she was a doll made of porcelain.

As he adjusted her with care, he held her in his arms, her head resting against his shoulder. Arms were folded over her abdomen as he held her around her back, clasping her upper arm. He hadn't forgotten when she winced in pain from when he clasped her there the last time. His other arm went under her knees and he shook his head.

She really was falling apart. Whatever was going on, he had to make sure to figure it out quickly. If she did waste away, that would be just adding gas to the flame. With a sigh, he picked up her bag, recalling the last time he left it hanging around. He didn't exactly want a date with a pair of trio blades at his throat any time soon.

* * *

"She could just be home, you know," Kitty said smugly as she walked along with her companion.

They were walking in a quicker pace down the sidewalks, heading in the direction of the mansion. It was a route that Rogue, and most of the others, used to get to and from school. Kurt, though still concerned, was in a little bit of an aggravated mood. Kitty chiding smirk comments all the ways there wasn't exactly helping.

With another deep sigh, he gave her a look at what she said. He didn't have to say anything before she placed her hands on her hips with a pout. "I'm _trying _to _help_."

Kurt nodded. "I know, it's just that it's not being that helpful right now," he said, continuing to walk in front of her. "How would you feel if it were your sister?"

"I don't have a sister," she pointed out. "And, technically, she's not yours either."

"Adoptive!"

"Alright, alright," she said, coming up besides him. "No more snide comments." He chuckled as she was the one to give him a look. "What?"

Then, he shook his head. "Nothing."

She rolled her eyes once, but then something caught her eye. Her head snapped in the direction that she saw her friend in, and she grabbed Kurt's sleeve. "Look!"

Rogue, indeed, was right across the street. Though, her pace was slow, as she limped along, her hand against the wall to prop herself up. In the position she was in, her shoulder blades were perfectly seeable with the shirt she wore–poking out of her skin too much. Kurt's eyes narrowed. "Does she look thinner?"

Kitty blinked, and looked from him to Rogue again, as she limped along. The girl's clothes were loose, collar bone and shoulders poking out a little bit more than they usually were. Her eyes widened, both of them seeing her holding onto the wall, and herself. "She's been skipping meals?" she asked.

They looked at each other once, before they made a run for it to the crosswalk. Seeing the cars go by as they did at that hour, Kurt huffed with frustration. "I'll meet you over there."

Wide eyed, she whipped her head to him. "Kurt, wait!"

But by then he was gone in a puff of smoke. Thankfully, not a lot of people were around to see it–either that or they didn't care–as he reappeared on the other side of the street. Angrily, she yelled right over to him. "You could have brought me!" she shouted.

"What's wrong with your powers? No one cares if they see–everyone knows already," he replied simply as he crossed his arms smugly–payback for all of her remarks before.

"I'll cause a freaking accident!" she exclaimed, arms waving around.

If she did walk out into the street, through all the cars, someone would still see her and _think _they'd hit her and swerve to the side of the road. So, she was stuck. Kitty's eyes narrowed as he laughed, but then turned to the park. "I won't leave without you!"

With that, he went inside the park, closed off from the rest of civilization with that wall. But when he got there, he looked around, and saw nothing of his sister. She wasn't even in sight, or in the distance.

He scratched his head with a raised eyebrow, not even looking as Kitty ran up besides him. Neither did he hear honking from the street. Panting, she leaned over and rested her hands on her legs, catching her breath. It appeared she did what he had said anyway.

"Thanks for that," she sneered, as she stood. "I almost killed someone, you know!" But then she noticed him looking around, and blinked. "What? Where's Rogue?"

Kurt shrugged. "She went this way, didn't she?" he asked.

Still trying to regain her normal breathing, Kitty nodded. "Of course," she swallowed, licking her parched lips to wet them. "I saw her. Where'd she go?"

He only shook his head. "I don't know."

* * *

The pain hurt worse this time. She was completely exhausted as she ran, lungs heaving in and out as they stung. She was positive that they were aflame this time, causing her entire body to ache.

She wanted to stop, wanted to rest. But she couldn't; she had to keep running.

Her feet throbbed with the pain from cuts, all bottoms of them completely scarred. Bushes and twigs scratched at her bare legs, her knees begging for rest. Muscles pleaded for restraint, but didn't buckle as she continued on.

She never stumbled, never slowed, just continued to run. The wind stung her skin as she ran against it, her extremely long hair flowing out behind her. The cold of the air numbed her skin, cheeks cold and lips chapped. She continued through those woods, the stillness of it chilling her soul.

Her heart was like a wild animal, the way it struggled in its cage. If she didn't stop soon, something would happen, something horrible.

But if she did stop, something worse would happen.

Blond hair blinded her vision and then she felt herself falling, falling into an abyss.

* * *

With a scream, Rogue sat up in her bed once more as she knocked the lamp off the table. She heard the bulb shatter, but didn't flinch as she fell over again, clutching at the bed as she gasped for air. Vision still blurry, she blinked to focus. Her hand went to her heart, willing it to steady as she tried as slowly as she could to breathe in.

When she did, she let out a groan, and hugged her form. These dreams had to stop. She couldn't take it much more. Finally, she felt her heart beat slow down, so that she didn't hear it anymore. Her chest moved up and down regularly, and she could see what was in front of her clearly. It was over for now.

Pushing off the covers, she looked around. She was in the mansion, in her bed. How did she get there? All she remembered was the park... and then nothing. Placing a hand to her temple, she strained to think, but then saw something she didn't want to.

Gasping, she snapped her head to the window. For a moment, only a moment, a shadow had appeared in the window, covering her. But then it was gone. Nothing was there. She stood, noting that her shoes were off, and then went over to the window and looked around outside.

Nothing.

Rogue shook her head, and went over to her bed again, but then noticed something sitting on her side table, where her lamp had been. There it was, The King of Hearts. Checking her pockets, she couldn't find it. Picking it up, she found the same writing on the back.

She knew exactly how she had gotten back to the mansion.

* * *

With college, reading was something that Jean did often. Usually she would be found walking the halls with her nose in a book. It wasn't as if she liked to be seen that way, but it was hard to take lightly. So, as she was heading towards her room, she was surprised to find someone call her name.

"Hey, Jean?"

The redhead turned, pausing as she bit out of her apple to look at the approaching blonde. "Oh, hey Tabitha," she said, politely.

Boom-Boom was looking over her shoulder as she approached the older girl. Like most of them, she'd dressed down to avoid the heat with the air conditioner still broken. It was quite common to see the girls running around in tanks and shorts in their dorm halls. But, Tabitha was looked like she was still in her underwear, being in a camisole and boy shorts. Surely she didn't mind about the items she was wearing, for she went out of her room in them, but with all the guys running around... She didn't seem to care, more intent on what was over her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Jean asked, a little concerned.

"Well, I _was _getting dressed in my room..." she started, not looking at her, still over her shoulder. "Then I heard a scream, crash and now I'm hearing more crashes from Rogue and Kitty's room." Finally she looked at her, straining with her look. "Can you come check it out with me? I'd go, but knowing those two..."

Jean recalled some of the arguments the to had sometimes, and winced. It was better nowadays, but still. The older girl looked more concerned, and closed her book, throwing her apple core in the nearest trash can. Then she sighed. "I'm coming."

Tabitha led her to the room, and indeed, crashes, bangs and all kinds of things were coming from the room. The redhead gave her book to the younger girl and put her ear to the door, hand going to the knob. For a moment, she listened.

"What do you hear?" Tabitha asked.

"Sh!"

Eyes wandering around, she finally heard groans, and more movement. Then something else clattered, and she hear glass break. She lifted her head from the door. "I think we should go in. It doesn't sound good–but I don't hear yelling."

"What are you two doing?"

They both turned, finding Kitty to be standing behind them with her school bag over her shoulder. She looked between the two curiously, wondering why they were at her door, before her gaze landed on Tabitha. "And where are your clothes?"

"You mean you and Rogue aren't fighting?" Jean asked.

She shook her head. "Haven't talked to her since this morning," she said. "What are you doing at my door?"

The blonde folded her arms across her chest. "Well, since it's so hot, I was gonna change so I wouldn't sweat as much–and then I heard a scream and crash from your room."

"We thought you and Rogue were arguing again," Jean concluded, trying to back her up. "But... you're here."

Wearily, Kitty nodded, looking away before she made a face. "Yeah, I am."

There was another crash and the three looked to the door again. "Alright, let's just go inside already," Tabitha insisted, hands on her hips.

Jean opened it for them, and poked her head inside. Then, she opened it entirely and gasped as the other two fallowed her lead. "What happened in here?" Tabitha asked, almost jokingly.

Clothes, books, magazines, pillows and all other kinds of things were thrown everywhere. The bed was unmade, and drawers had been pulled out of the dresser and side tables. A lamp was shattered on the floor, aimless things knocked over and overturned. Amongst the mess, Rogue was there, throwing things around as searched through the items.

Thankfully, it was only her side of the room that was disturbed.

Kitty's eyes were wide as she went over to her roommate. "Rogue, what are you doing?" she exclaimed.

Rogue didn't look up or stop her rummaging. "Lookin' for somethin'," she replied, wincing as she pulled out another heavy drawer on her dresser.

"Well, yeah, obviously, but did you have to destroy the room?" she asked, more shocked than mad about the situation.

"I'll clean it, just let me go for a little," she waved off.

The two girls at the door looked at each other. "What exactly are you looking for?" Jean asked, coming in more as she tried not to step on anything that was on the floor.

Tabitha just shook her head. "I'm gonna get dressed, if any of you need me," she said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder as she handed Jean her book back. "I just wanted to see if anyone was hurt."

She left, leaving the door open as she trailed down the hallway. Jean, still in the room, turned to the two. Kitty was picking up things and trying to sort through them even if they weren't hers. "She said that there was a scream?" Jean tried, coming over to the younger girl.

At this, Rogue paused. "I... had a little bit of a nightmare, that's all."

Kitty blinked. "Nightmare?" she asked, putting her bag on her bed. "You were asleep? How long have you been home? 'Cause Kurt and I saw you go into the park, and tried to catch up with you and you were gone."

Again, she stiffened, but continued to look through things. "A while," she said, answering her question. "I was tired from studying."

Jean blinked, but then looked to the door as someone appeared in it. X-23 looked around the room with a surprised disgust, hands leaning on the doorframe. "What the heck happened in here?" she asked. "A tornado?"

Rogue finally stood, looking to the wall blankly. "I was looking for something."

Kitty looked over to her roommate with a wrinkled brow. 'Was' meaning that she had found it. The redhead instantly smiled. "Yes?" she asked, brightly.

"The professor wants to see you three," she said, calmly. "He sent me."

She nodded, and Kitty shrugged. "Well, let's go then."

As she and Jean headed out the door, Rogue remained. Just as the other girl there was going to leave, she stopped her. "Hey, uh, could you hold on a second, uh..." she started.

Calling her X-23 would be a little rude. But, she didn't even flinch. "Laura."

Rogue blinked. "What?"

"Call me Laura," she said, expression not angry or happy. "That's what they named me."

She nodded. "Oh," she said. "Anyway...Laura, you have a good sense o' smell, right?" she asked hesitantly.

The younger girl blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah," she replied bluntly.

Rogue winced before she spoke again. "Do... ya smell a guy in here?"

Laura inhaled once, before she nodded slowly. "Yeah," she repeated. "Young, with an earthy scent to him, like..."

"Water?"

Again, she raised an eyebrow, with suspicion this time. "Yeah."

Rogue looked away, sliding something into her pocket aimlessly. "Thanks."

And with that, she headed out the door. The other girl moved out of the way for her to do so, but still watched her go with a mix curiosity and confusion.

* * *

Just a few notes for all of ya, so you can know what's going on. I know this one was a little boring, but the next one will be entertaining enough.

For all you Kurtty fans, tough luck, this isn't that kind of fic. That interaction in the second scene I only put in for some humor. I completely plan on having Kitty with Lance... and you'll see more of that later on.

And just incase anyone wants to know when this happens, it's goes on right after the end of the series. Everyone who was in that final sequence at the end, will be in this fic as members of the X-men. That's where Boom Boom and X-23 come in living in the mansion.

And on that note, X-23's real name is Laura, and I will be referring to her with that later on. Calling her X-23 seems a little cold, seeing as that it's calling her 'Experiment Number 23.' Don't worry, I did some research to make sure of it, and it's definitely her name. I'll go into the explaination of it later in the story's plot. Thanks again for reading, and I look forward to hearing from you.


	4. Chapter 4

I give a lot of hints to the story line abd plot to this story in this part. Some of you might know what might happen too. Be on the lookout for anything familiar.

* * *

The screen was filled with the image of a woman. She was fairly pretty, with a nice face, and looked like just another woman. But, Xavier wouldn't have asked almost all of his X-men to come see the presentation if she was ordinary.

Rogue comfortably placed herself in the back of the room, not to draw any attention to herself as she and the other two girls walked inside. Jean took a seat next to Scott, of course, and Kitty actually tried to stand near her roommate.

The others in the room were expected. Logan stood in the corner, Storm seated nearby. Beast was more or less sitting on the floor, with Evan beside him. Kurt was there as well, Colossus with him, and Angel hanging around near by. It seemed that he asked all of the higher members to come. She was certain the other students were listening into the conversation somehow.

The professor sat at his desk like usual, hands clasped together in front of him as he watched the three remaining walk in. "Ah, girls, glad you could come," he said, as he nodded to the screen. "Everyone, I've asked you here to tell you something important that you must look out for."

It was at that time that Rogue actually saw the woman. She stiffened when she saw what she looked like; she was blond. Kitty, seeing her reaction, leaned over. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothin'," she whispered.

"This is Carol Danvers," Xavier told everyone. "She is a mutant, and was once an acquaintance of mine." He looked over to Storm. "Ororo, I'm sure you remember her."

She nodded. "Yes, I do," she replied.

"What's important about her?" Logan asked, seemingly curious to the situation.

"Recently, she had been contacting me everyday," he started, calmly. "She complained about nightmares, and asked me for help with them. Her powers are unique, and block out telekinesis, so I can't contact her that way." He sighed. "But still, she said she felt like she was in danger, and that someone was watching her."

"Was there?" Jean interrupted.

He closed his eyes and nodded. "She was kidnaped from her home yesterday."

There was silence, but a glance around the room through everyone. "I would like all of you to stay cautious, because all things considering, Ms. Danvers is a strong mutant. It wouldn't be easy to kidnap her like that."

"Do you think that it was an anti-mutant group?" Scott suggested.

Xavier breathed in deeply. "I'm not positive, but it was someone with the knowledge on how to fight mutants," he replied. "I don't even think it was one person. This is the work of a team of experts, trained to capture mutants."

"What exactly do they want her for?" Beast asked suddenly.

There was a pause, where some looked from him, and then to Xavier once more. "I'm not sure," he replied. "But, if they knew about her, a very cautiously kept secret mutant, than they know about us. I want all of you to be on the lookout."

There was a mutual nod, before he continued. "I expect you'll look after the other students as well. I thought informing them would cause some of them to worry more than needed. Most likely, this is just a scare, but I still would like each of you to stay cautious."

With that, they were dismissed, and Rogue was going to leave with the crowd as well, but a voice in her head stopped her. _"Rogue, I would like to speak to you,"_ the professor's voice in her head told her.

She paused at the door, and Kitty stopped. "Are you coming?"

Her roommate smiled. "Yeah, I'll be a minute," she said, nodding to their teacher. Kitty caught on and then left with the others. "See you later," she said, leaving through the closed door.

Rogue turned to Xavier as she came over. "Yeah professa'?" she asked.

He looked her directly in the eye. "Both Kurt and Logan have told me that you've been acting strangely," he started, giving her a studying look. "Is there anything you would like to discuss?"

Her eyes avoided his own as she searched for an answer. When she didn't speak, he continued. "Logan tells that you aren't sleeping, and Kurt says that you are skipping meals," he continued, resting his chin on his hands. "If there's something bothering you, then I would like you to tell me, Rogue."

Tell him what? She was having strange dreams that caused her appetite to go down to nothing? That she didn't know if she could go on a day without falling over? And that these dreams were almost killing her?

She finally looked him in the eye, and shook her head. "No," she replied. "Ah'm fine."

His eyebrows went up, but he nodded. "Alright, if you're sure," he replied. "I'm here if you need to talk."

Nodding, she turned to leave. For a moment, she paused at the door handle. Then, shaking her head, she grasped the handle and pulled it open before she left.

* * *

"What's this?" 

"Your juice."

Rogue blinked at the gesture Kurt offered her, not really knowing what to do with the can of liquid that was dangling in front of her face. Long ago, she'd gone into the living room to study, book in her arms as she was sitting on the sofa.

She looked to her brother, standing behind it as he leaned on the back. "You said you'd let me get you something," he pointed out.

Smiling, she took it. He really was concerned about her, even through everything. She took the can from him, and sat up. "Thanks," she said, looking more tired than usual.

He nodded as she opened it and drank from it. Having a coffee diet wasn't exactly appetizing all the time. This was something new, and it tasted better than other coffee, that's all she said.

Content with seeing her digest something, Kurt stood up straight. "I'm heading to bed for the night, alright?" he asked, nodding to the clock. "It's late, don't stay up too long."

She nodded as he turned and left the room. When he was gone, she put her drink down on the table, before she placed her feet on the floor and reached into her back pocket. Pulling out a pair of cards, she looked between them. The King and Queen of Hearts. It had taken her forever to find the queen, having tossed it in one of her drawers before. Now she felt like keeping them closer to her.

She sighed and closed her eyes. Maybe with him watching her wasn't that much of a bad thing after all. It was almost comforting.

* * *

Thump, Thump. 

Thump, Thump.

She could hear the sound of her heartbeat again. It was beating a mile a minute, still trying to free itself from its cage. Wildly, the beating continued, throbbing in her ears and in the back of her mind. It was the only thing she could hear. That, and the wind that ripped against her skin, flowing through her long hair and numbed her being.

Again, her legs were sore. Her very muscles felt broken, her bones shattered. They were over worked, and yet she continued to push them. She drove them, forcing them on. The only thing that kept her going was her fear, the fear of what was behind her.

She flew through the trees, whipping past branches and through the brush. She didn't have a path, or a destination, just kept on going. She didn't even look where she was going. All she did was run.

And then, she was trust out of it, her heart leaping into her throat as she started to fall. The abyss below swallowed her, and didn't want to give her up. She let out a scream, seeing only a flash of blond hair, and a pair of pleading red eyes.

* * *

A scream erupted from her throat as she sat up in bed once more. Kitty woke with a start as her roommate clawed at the sheets, huffing and puffing for breath as she held onto her form, scream continuing. The brunette sat up, seeing her friend practically hyperventilating in her bed, blinking away the sleep. Looking over to the bedside table, she noted that it was still early in the morning. 

Seeing her friend's state, she ran over to her side. "Rogue!" she said. Worry was clearly all over her face. "Gosh, Rogue, are you alright?"

Shoulders and head heaving from her struggle for breath, she began wheezing as she looked at her. She almost smiled. "Nigh-nigh-nightmare," she puffed out, words barely audible.

Instantly, she began to cough violently and Kitty stood up straight. Her brow was wrinkled with worry, as she looked around the room for a solution.

Almost as soon as she had found one, there was a pounding on the door. "Hey!" came a gruff Logan's voice. "Both of you okay in there!"

Kitty went over and opened the door, finding most of the teachers and some students who lived nearby. All were in their nightclothes, looking like they'd rolled out of bed. The hallway light was on, numerous other students waking up to see what the fuss was about. The adults already there turned on the lights to the room. Students, Jean and Scott in the front, filled the doorway.

"Who screamed?" Storm asked, looking between the two girls. She saw Rogue heaving as she was, and went over to her. She sat on the bed with her, hand on her back. "Rogue, are you okay?" She started coughing again, this time almost falling over with it. Taking the maternal roll, Storm looked to Kitty. "Get her some water."

She nodded and disappeared into the bathroom, as the Beast came inside, and over to the bed. Rogue wasn't sure about the others, as her teacher had her face him.

"Okay, Rogue, you're hyperventilating," Beast told her calmly. "I need you to listen." Rogue nodded once, as he continued. "Cup your hands over your mouth and nose, alright?" he asked. She did so. "And breathe."

Closing her eyes, she breathed in and out, her chest slowly going back into its normal rhythm. She heard her heart slow down, and her body relax. Finally, she steadied back to normal, opening her eyes to look at everyone. She noted Logan was standing over by the windows, looking about the room. Kitty was back again, and handed Storm a cup of water, as she helped her to drink it.

She pushed it away and then nodded. "Ah'm okay," she whispered.

"What's going on?" Storm asked, looking over to Kitty.

She shrugged. "Beats me. Rogue screamed, and I woke up she was like this," she answered, shaking her head. "She told me it was a nightmare."

Ororo looked to the younger girl. "Are you sure that was all?"

Rogue nodded, avoiding all of their gazes. "Ah was fallin' in the dream, that's all," she confessed. "It just scared me a little."

Beast nodded, and turned to the crowd. "Go ahead back to bed, nothing bad happened," he said, shooing them.

The two eldest led them away, the teachers staying for a while. Rogue took another sip of water, as she looked to Storm with an almost laugh. "Ah am okay," she said. "Now, anyway."

The older woman stood up and nodded to her fellow teacher. "I think it'll be alright to go back to bed now, Hank," she said.

Kitty sighed and turned to the window. "Hey, where did Logan go?"

* * *

Shaking his head, Gambit let out a sigh. From the tree he was sitting in outside the window, he had seen the entire scene. And again, she told everyone she was fine, and that there was nothing wrong. 

Rogue was lying through her teeth, that's what.

He had thought that Wolverine had seen him when he looked out the window, but he'd quickly hid himself. Being a thief meant that you were neither seen or heard. He had to remain that way as he was staking out outside the window.

But as he sat on the branch, he didn't expect a sudden pull on his jacket that earned him a one way ticket to the ground. He landed with an 'oof' and found himself facing not six, but ten blades.

He laughed from where he lay on the ground, saluting. "_Bonjour_," he commented.

Instantly, Logan lifted him by the gruff of his neck, and pushed him against the tree. "What the heck are you doing here, punk?" he growled.

"Talk," said the feminine voice with him. The girl looked a little bit like the man she was with, and with the same attitude. "I know you were in Rogue and Kitty's room yesterday afternoon."

He cracked a grin. "Ah didn't take anythin'," he offered almost cheerfully. Wolverine growled and his grip on him tightened, and he held up his hands. "Okay, okay, ask m' what you want," he said.

"Why are you here?" the girl demanded.

Gambit nodded to the window above. "Guess." Again, a growl escaped through his captor's throat and he laughed. "Chère isn't doing well is she?" he asked, making him blink. "Can't imagine what would drive her into that state."

The two looked at each other. "What do you know?" Logan demanded.

"About?"

"About Rogue!" the girl insisted. Two claws extended from each hand as she pointed them at him. "What's wrong with her? You know, talk!"

For a moment, he blinked, then ever so slowly, a wicked grin formed on his face. "The more important question, _fille_, is who did it to her," he said.

"What do you mean who?" Logan asked.

"Pity that woman," Gambit said suddenly. His face was straight, though there was something else in his eyes. "The one who was kidnaped the other day. Wonder what will happen to 'er."

For a moment, his captor just looked at him with confusion, a silence coming over them both. "Logan," the girl said suddenly, looking scared. "Didn't you say that when Danvers contacted Xavier, she was having nightmares?"

Wolverine's head whipped back to the younger man he held onto. "You're saying they're connected?"

Gambit shrugged and looked away. "What do Ah know?"

"Obviously more than you're letting on, pal," Logan said, pulling him away from the tree and slamming him against it once more. "You still didn't answer my first question."The thief was unfazed as he looked at him. "Repaying a debt," he said calmly.

Before he could say anything else, a voice in all of their heads stopped them. "_Logan_, _Laura_," Xavier stated. "_Let him go._"

Hesitantly, he released his grip on him, and stepped away. His claws retracted, and he sulked off. Laura remained, looking at the young man with a glare. "You _do _know something," she said, bluntly. It wasn't a question.

He raised an eyebrow. "Little Wolverine sidekick, are you?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

She rolled her eyes with a growl. "It's called a clone, idiot," she muttered, starting to walk away. "Xavier wants you to talk to him."

When she was gone from sight, Gambit sighed and crossed his arms. This really was a mess.

* * *

Yes, I've made Laura to be protective of Rogue like Logan is. You'll see how their relationship will grow in time. Also, here are some translations, incase some of you don't know any French:

bonjour: hello

fille: girl


	5. Chapter 5

Usually, when in the presence of Charles Xavier, one would sit politely. They'd have a straight back, and head held high, and their attention would be completely on the professor. Gambit was an exception.

The Cajun sat in the chair, reclined with his legs propped up on the desk. He was fiddling with a card that he held, twirling it in his grasp with only one hand. His head rocked back and forth like he wasn't even paying him the slightest attention.

Xavier just sat there was a raised eyebrow.

Then, he sighed, and closed his eyes. Finally, he clasped his hands together in front of him before he spoke, "Remy."

Red eyes locked with his own, tipping an invisible hat on his head. "At ya' service."

The older man inhaled deeply, and then continued. "Would you like to explain yourself, or would you rather me ask questions?"

Gambit only shrugged, looking at the card again. "Whichever."

He was beginning to lose patience. "Why were you outside that window?" he asked, immediately coming to the point.

"Didn't know it was illegal," he replied, not looking up.

"Well, it's called trespassing, Gambit," the professor replied bluntly.

"True—Ah wasn't doin' anythin' though," he replied, nodding to him.

"You were outside Rogue and Kitty's window," Xavier continued, not losing his posture. "And Laura told me you were in their room earlier today."

For a moment, he paused. "Didn't know ya could shoot the delivery boy," he mumbled, glancing at his nails. "All Ah did was drop somethin' off—tis all."

Xavier raised an eyebrow, looking at him curiously. "And what may that have been?"

"One o' ya students, professa," he stated, cocking his head to the side. "Surprised she made it that far home—with that weatha' and in her state."

He grinned knowingly. "So you have noticed that she's..."

"Wastin' 'way?" Gambit offered smugly. "Why, professa', that's why Ah'm 'ere."

The older man's eyes narrowed. "What do you know, Gambit?"

A wicked grin formed on his face as he took his feet off the desk, and put them on the floor. He sat up, and then stood. "Well, wouldn't everyone want to know?"

"Her nightmares," he started. "And yes, I know about them—it was obvious everyone else does as well, with the events of this morning. You know why she's having them."

He pouted in consideration, shrugging. "Ah might."

"You really should tell me if you know anything," he advised. "For the better of everything. It would help to solve this dilemma."

Gambit leaned forward, placing his hands on the desk as he did. "Now, professa', if ya really wanted to know, why don't ya just hack ma' brain?"

The older man blinked with confusion, as he smirked deviously again. After a moment, a look of almost fear appeared in his eyes.

The Cajun stood, and turned to head for the door. "_Bonsoir_," he said, with another tip of the hat. "Ah 'ope that next time, we _can _get a little farther."

* * *

While walking, Rogue peered over to her friend, who was watching her intently. Since getting up that morning, Kitty was glued like adhesive to her side, not even leaving for a moment. After last night, she probably would have done the same thing to her as well, but still, it was annoying. Brow wrinkling, she inhaled deeply to speak.

"Ya don't really have to walk with ma', Kitty," she stated. "Ah'm alright, really."

The brunette didn't look impressed, books held firmly in her grasp as she continued walking along side her. "I know," she replied simply, innocence in her eyes. "I just like walking like this, that's all."

Though her eyes wrinkled slightly, she nodded. "If ya say so."

Kitty smiled. "Besides, it's a nice day," she said, looking around. "Cooler than yesterday."

"Still hot."

"I offered to lend you something that wasn't black."

Rogue gave her a look. "Ah don't do pink."

Her friend sighed. "I have other things."

"They're all pastels."

She nodded. "Yeah, that's true," she mumbled honestly. "Why can't you wear white?"

Her head whipped in her direction. "With ma' skin tone?"

Kitty giggled. "I guess you're right."

The goth was just about to retort, when they turned the corner and made it to the school grounds. A flash of blond hair flashed before her thoughts, and she paused, wincing. More images flashed before her vision, of a tank of water, brights lights, and even metallic objects. She grasped a hand to her temple as she moaned out in pain.

"Rogue!"

She heard her friend's concerned yell, and a hand on her arm, but still she screamed as a sharp pain bolted through her head. "Ah!"

There were more lights, chains and needles. She saw a flash of blue, and then green hair. And then there was more lights. She tried to tune into what her friend was saying, as the concerned voices around her multiplied. Again the pains came, and she held her head with both hands, pushing away people.

Even with her vision blurred and legs unsteady, she ran. She didn't even know where she was going, she just took off. She just started running.

* * *

The second that Kitty noticed her friend wasn't beside her, she turned to find her moaning out in pain, holding her head. She'd gone over to her, and tried to reach out to her, but she only screamed out and dropped her bag while lashing out.

Concern completely in her eyes, she took her by the arms. "Rogue!" she exclaimed.

She only turned away, whimpering as she held onto her head as though she was in terrible pain. Many around saw the commotion, looking with a little confusion and whispering slightly to one another. Those in particular, like those they knew, came over.

Kurt was instantly there, of course, looking between them. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, Jubilee and Tabitha appearing behind him. It just so happened that even Lance came over. "What's the matter with her?" he whispered to his girlfriend.

Kitty only shook her head. "Rogue," she said, leaning in. "Can you hear me?"

"Rogue?" Kurt asked.

It was then that she did something unexpected, she pushed away completely, screaming once as she started in a run towards the school, around the building. There were glances exchanged, and Kitty only thrust her bag to the young man with her, who only took it with surprise. "Hold this," she said, taking off in a run after her friend. "Rogue, wait!"

"Are we going after her?" asked a newly arriving Amara.

"What the heck's going on?" Bobby asked as he looked between everyone, then towards the way the girls went. "What's with Rogue?"

There was a confused chorused of shaking heads, before Kurt sighed. "I'll be back," he commented, then disappeared in a blue puff of smoke.

* * *

Rogue slowed down to more of jog, trying to gain back lost air. Her heart beat sped up extremely quickly, and her lungs already hurt. She hadn't even been running that long, and here she was already exhausted. But for some odd reason she stayed away from her friends.

The pain in her stomach increased, as she held it and onto various things as she stumbled to the courtyards. She even knocked into a few people, still moving quickly as she passed them without even a glance. She heard the voices behind her, but didn't slow.

It was worse than her nightmares–it was real.

Finally she got to the wooded area, her stomach heaving as she emptied it of what little was inside. There was nothing inside, and yet everything came out. She felt as though her very stomach was coming out of her throat.

Disgusted, she pushed away and wiped her mouth with her sleeve, moving to another area. She managed to find the place she was in yesterday, bracing the tree as she limped to a stop. She couldn't even see, as she nearly collapsed into the trunk and fell to the ground. She heard a snap of her wrist that she landed on, and much pain as she rolled over.

Her eyes closed as she inhaled the sweet grass next to her nose, lulling herself to sleep. She wanted rest, even if she did get those nightmares. All she wanted was peace. And then she got it.

* * *

"Which way did she go?"

The students pointed, and Kitty nodded. "Thanks," she said, both she and Kurt running in the direction they said.

They were both walking quickly as they trailed in the direction she went, noticing a trash can knocked over, and other things out of order around them. Kitty bit her lip as she looked around. "Oh, I hope she's okay."

"We should have never believed her when she said she was alright," Kurt scolded himself crossly, brow wrinkled as he shook his head. "She's sick—we need to find her."

"I know, I know," his friend said with concern, as they walked down the trail. "What could have caused her to do that though?" she asked, shaking her head as though to rid the nonsense around her. "It doesn't make any kind of sense."

He inhaled deeply. "Nothing does with Rogue."

She was about to reply, when he stopped dead. Turning, she stopped as well, gasping at the sight. A figure in a long trench coat blocked their path, back to them as they stopped. He turned, longer red hair revealed and of course a half masked face, and startling red eyes. In his arms, he carried the limp form of Rogue, cradling her to him, her head leaning against his shoulder.

Kitty gasped as she looked at him wide-eyed. "Gambit."

The Cajun smiled, nodding to her. "_Bonjour, fille_."

* * *

As she lay in the bed, Rogue appeared almost sickly. She was incredibly skinny, and without her make-up, the large bags under her eyes were obvious. Wearing a hospital gown, she lay under blankets, an IV attached to her arm to insert the medicine and nourishment she needed desperately. Slowly, her chest rose and sank, as the heart monitor beeped in the distance.

Both Kitty and Kurt were sitting with her.

Behind the glass, the teachers were sitting in the other room. Xavier sighed as he looked to his staff members. "Without food, her body reacted like most did. In some ways, it was a form of anorexia, but I doubt she was concerned about her weight in this matter," he said, looking between them.

Storm looked to the girl's form as she spoke. "The dreams she's been having. They've been affecting her sleep?"

He nodded slowly. "Without her taking care of herself, her body shut down. It can't tolerate all the stress she's been giving it."

Logan groaned as he crossed his arms. "But what was the deal with her fit today?" he asked, snarling at the state she was in before looking to the older man.

Xavier sighed. "That, I am unsure of," he confessed. "I truly don't know what caused this, but I'm certain that it is practically the same as what happened in Carol's case as well."

Beast raised an eyebrow. "She wasn't taking care of herself either?"

"When she contacted me, she told me she felt sick, and that she couldn't sleep," the professor explained. "But the fact that these two things are both similar between the woman gives us another thing to worry about."

Again, Logan snarled as he turned around. "Why don't we just ask him?"

Leaning against the wall in the corner, the thief stood with his arms crossed. He smiled innocently. "Whateve' do ya mean?"

At the comment, the older man came over, and took him by the collar again. "I've had just about enough of your games, punk," he growled out threateningly. "We all know you're hiding something, and you know more than we do."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do Ah?" Another growl escaped his throat, and Gambit only chuckled as he threw his head back. "Still haven't figured it out yet?"

Logan looked to Xavier, still clutching his collar. "What's he talking about?"

The professor looked off to the side, and Storm looked to him. "Charles?" she asked.

He finally looked up. "If I could find out what this was, I would have."

Wolverine looked between him and the thief, eyes narrowed. "You can't read his mind?"

Xavier shook his head. "No."

"Why the heck not?"

"I can't contact Rogue, either Logan," he pointed out. "Everyone else I can easily, but there is something stopping me from these two."

Ororo shook her head. "What?"

The older man closed his eyes. "I don't know."

Logan turned to Gambit again, holding him with two hands. "What did you do punk?" he asked, practically slamming him into the wall.

The thief made a distraught face, then grinned again. "Tis not _moi_, _monsieur_," he replied. "Not at 'all."

"Who?" Beast asked. "If you know anything, please tell us."

He glanced between all of them, blank look in his eyes as he did. Then, calmly as ever, he replied, "Now if Ah did, they'd kill _moi_—and Chère."

At the looks on their faces, he smiled. "Don't want that, do we?"

* * *

He eh eh, I left a bit of a mind teaser with that one. Just try to guess what's going on--bet you won't, though.

bonsoir: good evening


	6. Chapter 6

With a sigh, Alex shook his head at the window. Making a concerned face, he continued to look at the older girl that was in the next room. The only signs of life she was showing was the face that the heart and brain monitors were both going, and her chest slowly rose and fell. Rogue looked the same as she did a week before hand, only slightly less thinner than she was.

"I picked a bad time to come," the blond surfer stated.

His brother shook his head. "No, you're visits are always welcome," Scott replied as he came over beside him. His own gaze matched his sibling's, watching their comrade peacefully. "Besides, you didn't do this to her. She's actually looks better than she did a few days ago."

Alex shrugged. "I know, I know," he said. "Still, that doesn't mean I can't feel weird about this." He wore a distraught expression as he gazed at her. "She looks almost dead."

"She _is _comatose."

"That's not the point," the younger of the two replied, looking over to Scott almost crossly. He swallowed and put a hand to his temple. "It's just that, according to what the professor, and what everyone's been saying, she drove herself into this state."

Scott's brow wrinkled as he looked at him. "Come again?"

"Well, she did this to herself, didn't she?" he asked. "Isn't that a little strange?"

There was a pause, where he thought about it. "I guess it was..."

"No, I mean that she actually let it get this far," Alex continued, looking over to her again. "She was fine, right?" His brother nodded. "And suddenly she has these nightmares and she won't sleep—or even eat. That's just spooky. Have you ever gotten a nightmare so bad that you couldn't eat?"

His brother looked to Rogue again, not saying anything as he continued to listen to what he was saying. "And the fact that she didn't bother to tell anyone about these things— those nightmares. I know she's a bit of a loner, but you'd think she'd at least go to the professor if she was desperate enough. She hasn't had a full night's sleep in weeks."

"After a while, without sleep, the brain starts to act on its own," the older brother said monotonously.

"And what's the deal with Gambit hanging around?" he asked suddenly, turning away from the subject. "His explanation for lurking around is 'to repay a debt'?"

"According to Laura."

"He was there when she passed out, and he was in her room. Do you think he has something to do with it?"

Scott made a strained face. "Logan sure seems to think so," he said, looking down. "But I don't think he'd do anything—if he was careless enough to get caught like that."

"He's a master thief isn't he?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow. "Aren't they trained _not _to be careless like that? Why would he be then?"

His brother's head whipped over to him. "You think he did it on purpose?"

Alex shrugged. "Possibly," he said, glancing over to Rogue once more. "He probably knows more than he's letting on, you know? But why would he be that careless unless he really wanted us to know something?"

"So... something's restraining him from saying anything," Scott concluded, sounding almost delighted. "And he wants us to know—to warn us."

"Of what?" he asked. "He _knows _what's happening to her."

"And more importantly, who's doing it."

The two glanced over to the door. Laura stood there calmly, not even blinking to acknowledge that they were there. They watched her as she went up to the window and looked through the glass at the form of Rogue, gaze still the same as ever.

"I heard your conversation," she remarked, not looking at them. "Couldn't help it."

Scott nodded. "What did you mean by that, though?"

"Gambit said something when we caught him that night," she said, only looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "Wasn't specific, but it was enough."

Alex shook his head, delighted she was giving them a hint. "Well, _what_?"

"That it wasn't important what was happening," she said. "Rather who."

"'Who'?" Scott echoed with a laugh. "Are you saying someone is actually giving her these nightmares?"

For the first time, she turned to him. Then, Alex looked to his brother. "Of course, bro!" he said. "It makes sense. Why would she punish herself like this?" he asked. "Someone must have been giving her those dreams, and making her stop taking care of herself."

"But who other than the professor has powers like that?" Scott asked reasonably. He almost laughed. "He can't even contact her, it would be like someone was..."

"Controlling her brain?" Laura suggested.

There were glances exchanged, and looks of horror and confusion. But before any of them could say anything else, a loud beeping was heard from the next room.

Looking inside, Rogue was seen shaking uncontrollably. The monitors were jumping without pattern, and alarms sounded as she jolted in her sleep. Instantly they looked at each other, and Scott took his roll as oldest. "Someone, get the professors!"

* * *

It was a different dream this time.

Instead of running through the woods, she was somewhere she couldn't describe logically, only with feelings. Colors flashed before her eyes; blue, green and red. Blinding lights surrounded her completely, as she was held back and down, chained and unable to move.

Her body was in complete agony, her very bones feeling shattered. She couldn't move, could hardly breathe—her slow heartbeat echoing into her ears. A massive pain erupted in her head, wracking through her brain like a dagger.

She heard the clattering of metal, and the whimpering of someone nearby. There was a flash of blond hair again, and then the terrified scream of a woman.

And then she noticed that she was screaming too.

* * *

Storm came running into the room, finding two of the students trying as best they could to hold down the girl laying down. It was more to keep her, and everyone else from getting hurt. She only had to glance at the monitors once, before she ran over to a station to do something.

Beast had already come over to her, looking between Laura and Alex. "Hold her steady," he said. "She could do something."

The door opened, just as Ororo filled a syringe with a liquid. Xavier came in, Logan following closely behind him. "Storm, try to hurry," he informed, wheeling over to the bed. "She needs to be subdued soon."

Scott, coming in behind his teachers, stayed quiet, only until Logan turned to him. "With those alarms, you can bet there's gonna be a crowd," he said.

He nodded. "Got it, crowd control."

As soon as he left, Storm rushed over with the needle, trying as she could so that she could insert it without harming her. Finally, she injected it inside and there was a moment where everyone was holding their breaths.

The screens slowly began return to normal, the lines for her heart no longer racing. The brain activity calmed, and no longer was going off the charts. A calm was spread over them all as Rogue laid back calmly, and the rising and falling of her chest started up again. Those holding her down released her and backed up.

Xavier nodded. "Both of you, thank you," he said. "Go ahead, and we'll take care of this."

Alex left without question, looking a little concerned, but that was all. Laura however, stayed as she looked to Xavier intently. The older man only went over and looked at the brain pattern print-outs. "I know, Laura," he said, not looking at her. "I know, so don't worry."

The other teachers looked at each other, but didn't say anything. The girl only nodded, before she left the room too, shutting the door behind her.

With a sigh, Xavier shook his head as he looked at the print-outs. "Just as I expected."

"What?" Logan asked.

"These patterns are irregular," he said. "Indicating that she indeed has been getting interrupting nightmares. And with her heartbeat going like it was, I'm not surprised she got this way." He looked to his staff, still tending to the unconscious girl. "But they're too irregular too be normal."

"How is a nightmare normal?" Beast asked questioningly.

"A nightmare is simply a dream that gives out images of fears or challenges that a person subconsciously has," he explained. "Dreams themselves are complicated enough—but with that aside it is still thoughts going around in that person's head, that are bad. They cause distress, of course, and other problems. But Rogue's are stranger than others."

"How so?" Storm asked as she finished bandaging where she had just placed the needle.

"They randomly occur," he said. "Nightmares are led up to, like a gradual hill. But these are random, like bolts of lightning. They occur in the blink of an eye, and then disappear."

Beast made a face as he came over. "So, she's not coming up with these by herself?"

He shook his head. "No. Someone is creating these nightmares—someone is inside Rogue's brain, controlling images that are causing this torment."

Looks were exchanged, but before they could say anything, another alarm sounded. Red lights went on and off, a sound that could wake the dead emanating from the walls. They all looked to Xavier as he looked forward with a feared look.

"Magneto."

* * *

The room was a relatively dark one. It was filled with computers, screens magnifying the walls. It was exceptionally large, numerous machines and certain contraptions littering the space with its metal parts and wires. Lights blinked, and monitors beeped. In the corner, was a long padded table, with a pillow for a head and straps for a person's arms and legs. It was currently vacant.

The only lights that filled the room were those of vertical tanks, many of which were occupied with figures. They simply floated in the liquid around their bodies, unconsciously being held against their will.

An automatic door slid open with a 'whoosh' and the figure of a woman strolled inside, hands on her hips as she came up to the man standing in front of a tank.

With a raised eyebrow, she sneered at what he was looking at. "Why do you have a liking for this one?" she asked. "The others are much more appealing to the eye."

He only looked at her from the corner of his eye. "She's closer to me than the others," he replied, his gruff voice matching his towering figure. A grin appeared on his shadowed face. "Very close. She'll be a delight to use."

The woman rolled her eyes and turned to the others. "Danvers, I can see why you captured," she said, pointing to the blond figure on the end. She crossed her arms at the middle form, curls of green floating around the figure's head. "How is this one—Dane—going to help anything?"

Her companion chuckled softly as he turned and headed to a computer. "I held up my end of the bargain, Bella. So, this is what I get for it."

She made a face. "What good is she going to do for you?"

"A whole lot more than you can think of," he replied as he took a seat. He smoothly sat down, gliding a gloved hand over the buttons. Then he sighed, clasping his hands together. "Though it seems our little plan is coming out faster than expected. I'm going to have to bring in my little sister sooner than expected."

Coming over, she crossed her arms. "You really hate your family so?" she asked.

"Don't you?"

"That's different."

He turned his head to look at her. "How so?"

"No one forced this on you," she said, snarling angrily. "You really have a bad sense of revenge, Grey."

Again, he chuckled, standing as he turned to her "Bella, you and I are not exactly opposite."

"Except you want to destroy your family," she said. "And I want a plot to avenge mine."

A single finger made her look up to him. "And yet we still are the same in every other way," he offered, still grinning madly.

She sighed, stepping away. "You hold up your end, and I'll do the same with mine," she said, walking over past the tanks again. "Just don't do anything too stupid."

As she disappeared, he chuckled one more time. "Oh, Bella, you haven't seen _anything _yet."

* * *

To all of you who've read this, I ask that you please give me some feedback. I don't care if you hate this story or think I suck. I want some reviews! I'm begging you. Everyone reviewed for the first few chapters, and now I have no one, all except two individuals who've been constant (who I am thanking, by the way).

Just tell me whatever you think, maybe even try to figure out what's going on. I dropped loads of hints in this last chapter. Try to figure out just who I'm introducing next. And just in case you want to know, in this story, I'm going to be bringing out quite a few new things to tease everyone's mind with. I also will have more characters---lots that I haven't created myself, and really are X-men characters.

Thanks again for reading my babbles.

--Aries


	7. Chapter 7

I would first like to clear something up with everyone before you read this next part. In the previous chapter, when the character 'Bella' called her companion 'Grey' she was not calling him by his last name. In fact, she was addressing him by a nickname so to speak. (Don't ask, it will make sense in later chapters when everything is explained.) He is in no way, shape, or form related to Jean. I'm sorry to confuse you like that. That's all I wanted to say, so you can read the update now.

* * *

It was apparent that as soon as the alarms sounded, the mansion went into a frenzy. Like usual, the members of the school ran around to discover the problem, others went to their rooms. Others rushed to change, and afterwards some, mainly the teachers, ran to fight.

Already dressed in her uniform, Storm headed up from the hospital wing with her two other companions in tow. Making it to the foyer, she stopped and searched around the halls, students running about, all doing as told in usual situations like this. She nodded to both of her coworkers. "Go ahead, I'll be right there."

Once they disappeared out the door, she noted Scott running down the stairs—adjusting his visor—and followed by her own nephew, plus Jean. She stopped Evan, stepping in front of him as he tried head outside with the older two students. "Have you seen Kurt?"

He shook his head. "No, not really," he said. "Though I thought he was upstairs."

Ororo nodded. "Go ahead. Help the others."

As she looked around more, she managed to see all of Iceman, Multiple, Colossus, Shadowcat, Angel, Magma, and even Boom-Boom all heading to the fight, but she in no way found the student she was looking for. She saw a flash of blue, and turned around.

"Someone said you wanted to see me," Nightcrawler stated, hunched over in his normal form.

She nodded, eyes brightening at the site of him. "Go down to the hospital—watch Rogue," she instructed insistently.

He was taken aback, and raised an eyebrow with surprise. "Why?"

"Just go," she said, desperately glancing to the doors as more passed them, and she was unable to join them. "She needs twenty-four hour observation and you should watch her right now."

Nightcrawler still looked at her with confusion, brow wrinkled. "But–."

"Go!" Her eyes flared up as she stared him down.

For a moment, he just stood there with a look of confusion. Finally, he made a straight face and nodded, then disappeared again.

As soon as he was gone, Storm turned, and ran in the direction that everyone else had gone. She went through the already open front doors, and then down to the lawn where practically everyone in the school was lined up. All of who'd she'd seen in the halls were there, plus many more. X-23 had all of her claws extended; Havok, Jubilee, Cannonball and Berzerker were standing to the back of the rest.

But no one was doing anything.

She slowed and came up to Wolverine almost out of breath. He had his claws extended as he stood in front of the rest with Beast at his side.

"What's going on?" she asked, brow wrinkled. She looked around with confusion in her eyes, turning to him for an explanation. "Why isn't anyone fighting?"

He nodded, gesturing to what was in front of them all.

She turned her gaze to what they were all staring at, and found that two figures were standing there. They weren't even doing anything, just standing there. They didn't even look ready to fight.

The first was a a familiar girl, teenaged and wearing a long red trench coat over a skin-tight ripped outfit. Her new and strangely long, shoulder length black hair framed around her face messily. She stared out in front of her blankly.

With her was a form in silver, hair whipped back in the same color. His armor matched everything else, and he looked around with an impatient gaze. Arms crossed, he held a sneer in anticipation.

"What are _they _doing here?" she asked.

Both Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver held their grounds as they waited for the final member of their group to emerge behind them. Neither of them flinched as the cloaked figure floated over them like nothing, landing right in front of the two. His helmet hid most of his face, arms raised delicately and then dropped the same.

"What a welcoming comity," Magneto said. "But really, if I wanted a fight, I would have come alone."

There were glances exchanged, and a few whispers among those who'd assembled there. Still, the teachers stayed silent. After a minute, their old adversary continued to speak. "Yes, I just merely wish to speak to an old friend."

* * *

Logan pointed to the ground as he looked to his 'daughter', in a sort. "Stay here."

Laura only rolled her eyes as she looked away. As he and the few others walked away, only a few remained in the hallway outside of the office where currently Xavier and Magneto were occupying.

The others had fanned out after the 'false alarm' and most went back to bed. It was rather late in the evening. Not only that, supposedly Magneto had done some damage to the front gate; that's where Logan, Colossus, Beast and Angel went off to.

She growled as he left her to stand there. "Does he think I'm five?"

Kitty shrugged as she stood with her. Laughing nervously, she tried as hard as she could to put on a smile. "I just think he thinks it best if we... stay here."

"And play guards?"

At the other side of the hallway, the two siblings stayed calmly. Quicksilver leaned his back against the wall, his foot propping him up as he looked about annoyingly with crossed arms. He looked like he'd rather be somewhere else.

His sister on the other hand was cool and collected, taking a seat smoothly on the floor. With her legs crossed instead, she sat back with her hands together, and eyes closed. It was almost as if she was meditating, blocking everyone else out.

Other than that, they were the only ones in the hall.

Though still in their battle garments, Kitty remained the same as usual, trying to sound optimistic. She twiddled her fingers and shrugged again. "Well, maybe that's a good thing..." She didn't even look if she believed her own words.

The clone rolled her eyes as she looked away. "I woke up for this?"

Kitty made a face, but didn't comment as she looked away. She tried to appear occupied as she searched the blank area for something to do. She didn't want to try either of the siblings that were there, their so-called 'charges' to watch and make sure they didn't do anything. So, she looked back to the other girl with her.

What was there to say? She had to say something to break up the tension. The quiet was driving her insane, especially with all the tension. "Did you see Kurt?" she asked. "I didn't think I saw him outside, and he usually is—"

"I'm almost certain he went down to watch over Rogue," Laura replied before she could finish. She didn't look at her, but wasn't trying to be cold.

Feeling a bit out of place, she laughed and clasped her hands together. "Oh, alright." The girl was a dead-pan, incapable of a real conversation. Well, it wasn't exactly her fault though.

"Why?" asked another voice. "Does she need special attention?"

She looked over to Quicksilver, seemingly smiling and listening to their conversation. Shadowcat made a face of irritation and opened her mouth to retort, when her companion interrupted once again.

"Leave him." She looked over to Laura as she continued. "His only goal is to antagonize you—don't waste your breath."

The young man turned his head and stepped away from the wall, eyes narrowed. "And when did you become such an expert at people?"

Her eyes glared at him as she peered at him from out of the corners of them. Half of her face was covered as she looked at him and replied. "Your element is speed," she stated. "You have no self limitations. You know things can be done faster, and better, and this aggravates you. Everyone who can't do it the way you want is not at your level, and therefore imperfect, and to you, they're another vile life form wasting breath."

Wanda even glanced up between them as she continued. "When things can't be sped up, and _have_ to take long, this increases your impatience. Then, you simply take it out on the nearest thing—mainly one that can retort angrily, where you'll be able to start a fight and show off your oh so wonderful skills."

She grinned with amusement as she turned her head fully towards him. "Am I wrong?"

He glared at her through his lashes, as she smugly gave him a look. "And how would know this?"

Laura's face once again looked back to where it had originally been. "Because I'm supposed to know."

The quietest one of them chuckled out, smiling wickedly as she looked at her brother. "Dear Pietro, you must admit that she's pretty good—and right."

Again, he snarled and looked away. "Whatever."

With a raised eyebrow, Kitty looked between the two. "Okay," she mused. "_Anyway_, why does Rogue need someone looking after her? She's comatose."

At this, the twins seemed to stiffen, and looked at one another briefly. Then, they began listening to what they were saying. Laura ignored them, and answered her companion. "She had a seizure right before Magneto appeared."

Kitty gasped, fear coming to her eyes as she covered her mouth halfway. "Is she alright?"

"As much as anyone in her condition."

"Tell us." The two girls looked over to Wanda as she stood up carefully. Once standing, she looked at them from behind her hair. "What brought her into this state?"

"You mean why is she in a coma?" Shadowcat asked, pulling a piece of hair behind her ear. Her brow went up with confusion as she looked between them both. The witch nodded. "She started having these nightmares a while back, and before she passed out, she—."

"Stopped eating."

They all glanced over to the only male with them. What he said was purely emotionless, and he said it while staring into space. It hadn't been a suggestion.

Kitty raised an eyebrow in suspicion as she nodded. "...Yes."

"She's been out a week?"

For a moment, she gave them another look of confusion. She glanced to Laura before back to them. "Yes."

Wanda looked over to her brother. "It's happening again," she whispered, almost grinning.

The two girls looked to each other. "Again?" Shadowcat asked. "You mean this has happened before?"

"In a sense."

Kitty looked between them with almost fear. "Who?" she asked. "It happened to who?"

"It's not important," Quicksilver commented courtly.

"You're saying that you know someone who had those same symptoms?" Laura asked, getting to the original point.

There was a pause before, and an exchanged look between the siblings. "Yes," Pietro replied.

"Danvers?"

He shook his head. "No, not her—someone else."

"After she went comatose from lack of food and proper sleep," Wanda started, staring blankly at the opposite wall. "She was out for a week, and then had an attack where she had spasms."

"Was?" Kitty echoed hesitantly.

Again, there was silence. For a moment, a heavy sense was exchanged between the four there. Before any of them could say anything more, they were interrupted.

At first it was nothing, merely a small and echoing boom that sounded from the mansion. Then, suddenly, there was a flash of bright light, so blinding that they had to cover their eyes. And then, the grounds started shaking madly, like an violent earthquake.

Shadowcat let out a scream of shock over the noise as she fell to the ground, the floors shaking. The others there were unsuccessful in keeping themselves on their feet, falling over at odd angles as they went down one by one. Laura lashed out and dug her claws into the wall to keep herself steady on her knees.

And then almost as soon as it had come, the shaking settled. A calm settled, and Kitty looked up, pushing off the ground, terrified as she looked around with wide eyes. "What was that!"

The twins glanced at each other. "It's happening again," Wanda repeated to her brother in a whisper.

* * *

Xavier took in a sigh. It seemed like he had been doing much of that lately. This latest crisis was something that strained most of them. He still had a lot more to figure out, for the safety of Rogue, and the rest of his students.

But what his old friend presented to him was something unexpected.

"Erik, you truly want the two of them to stay here?" he asked, looking him straight in the eye.

Magneto had taken off his helmet, standing in front of the desk in the room. He nodded at the question, and didn't reply, only looked at him.

"I doubt Pietro and Wanda will actually stay and be a part of my team," he explained, hands clasped together in front of him on the desktop. "Surely you can leave them in the facility that you have before."

"No," Magneto replied. "I cannot. I've told you my part, surely you don't expect me to leave my remaining children unattended."

"You truly think it is best for them to stay here?" he asked, brow raised. "Most of my students have been rivals with them—it would be an uncomfortable atmosphere."

"If it keeps them safe, I don't see a reason why not."

The professor closed his eyes and breathed in once more, sighing. "Seeing as that Mystique thought it best to leave her own in my care, I see this as nothing different."

His friend nodded. "Thank you."

"Both of them will have to follow my absolute instruction," he said. "Essentially, they will be X-men themselves. You do know that?"

"I wouldn't expect anything else."

Xavier brought his hands up, resting his chin on the one. "Your purpose for leaving?"

Magneto smiled. "Now, Charles, if I wanted to keep that from you, I would've kept my helmet on," he said, chuckling slightly.

He nodded, and backed up in his chair, coming around the side to face him. "Very well, then, I would most likely do the same thing."

The taller man almost appeared surprised. "Then you approve?"

"I didn't say that."

Before anything else was said, there was a large thundering sound from beneath them. Xavier didn't even need to turn to know he needed to cover his eyes from the light coming from the windows.

He managed to keep himself steady as the floors began to shake violently. Behind him, Magneto gripped the wall to remain up. The trembles began to stop almost as soon as they began. Looking around with fright, Xavier headed to the door. "I must get to the hospital wing. Rogue is in trouble."


	8. Chapter 8

This chapter is very short, I know, but I put a lot in it. And if you're confused, I'm kinda going back and forth in time with these scenes. So, the first two scenes happened before the last chapter, but it fills you in on what happened to everyone else. Sorry if it confuses you--just thought I'd explain it to you.

* * *

Laying low was something that he had always been good at. Blending in, hiding, and making sure he wasn't seen all came in the same category to him. He thought after letting the latest information spread through the walls of the mansion, things would start to process.

Hanging around obviously wasn't something he wanted. He was pretty sure a few still knew he was there, but he didn't want to draw attention to that fact. Still, getting into the mansion wasn't that hard.

Lifting the window, he had looked around to find many students running around and heading for battle. No one seemed to even notice he was there. It was the perfect cover.

He crept down the halls, making sure to avoid open spaces. Cameras were everywhere in this place, and he didn't even have to see them to know they were there. As he made it down to the hospital, he was very aware that the alarms had stopped, and there was quiet.

But when he turned the corner into her room, Gambit paused for a moment.

His chère looked almost dead as she lay there. The only sign of life was the slow rising and falling of her stomach beneath the covers.

He shook his head, coming over quietly. As he looked her over, he shook his head, being careful as he took a seat next to her on the bed. "Ya never should have been in this," he whispered under his breath, hand lingering as it reached for her own. "It's ma' fault, and A'm gonna fix it."

Out of his hand appeared a chain, simple silver woven in a braid. The amulet was simple, a heart of the same material, dulled and worn with time. Around the brace that held her broken wrist, he tied it carefully to make sure it stayed there. He held her hand a second more.

"Someone gave me this afta' Ah left home, for good luck," he said, looking at her as though she could still hear him. "Let's 'ope it does the same for ya, ya gonna need it."

His ear picked up a noise, and his head whipped to the door. Quickly, he tucked her wrist beneath the covers, the necklace vanishing from sight before he stood.

No one could know he was ever there. It would prove what he was trying to hide.

* * *

Now usually, when given an order, Kurt was eager to do so. It was an honor that one of his teachers would go so far as to ask _him _to do something, and no one else. There was a sense of responsibility and respect shown when someone did that.

That was just usually, though.

At that moment, he felt like he had been picked to do something that someone without skill would get. It was like he was the last one left there, and had hardly any training at all, so he was picked to do the small side job.

It wasn't that he didn't mind looking after his sister, it was just the principal behind the entire thing. Rogue was comatose, and the only thing she did was lay there. It wasn't exactly something he wanted to do, especially since there were probably better things to do—like a battle that was going on outside.

Still in his normal form, he sighed, and slouched on the stool he sat on. Feet propped up on the top too, he looked around for something to keep himself occupied with. Watching Rogue like this was like watching the grass grow—nothing ever happened.

He sighed, and put his hands to his temple, when his ears picked up a strange noise. Up until then, all that was heard was the steady beeping of the monitors. After a while, the pattern was easily memorable. But the beeping started to pick up, get faster as he looked up.

At first, he thought something was wrong. It was unusual after all. He stood, and went over closer to the form laying there. With a wrinkled brow, he leaned in closer, noticing that her chest started going up further.

She was waking up.

An almost desperate smile came to his face. "Rogue?" he asked, coming over and leaning over her. "Rogue, can you hear me?"

Suddenly, her breathing increased more, and he saw the small flicker of her eyelashes. He smiled more, and looked about. He looked torn between staying, and leaving to tell someone. But he stayed put, reaching over to touch her arm.

"Hey," he said, calmly. "Are you awake?"

Slowly, her eyes started to blink open. Once, twice, three times she blinked as she looked around. Her face remained steady, as she searched the room around her. Almost barely, her mouth opened. "Kurt?" she whispered hoarsely.

He nodded. "Yes, it's me, Rogue," he said, looking ready to burst with joy. "Wait right here, I'll go get the professor and the others—."

Just as he turned to leave, a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist. He turned around, looking at her with a wrinkled brow. "Rogue?"

What scared him was what he heard next, "You can't leave," said an inhuman voice.

* * *

The moment that the group reached the hospital, what they were met with wasn't expected. Who had joined them were Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops, and of course Jean, all of them looking with complete surprise as what was there.

It was the wall completely in rubble. The light that had emerged still throbbed from the space, wild winds wrapping the room in a hurricane. Most had to cover their eyes not to blind themselves.

Like it had appeared, it disappeared and died down from its source. Emerging from inside, stood none other than the girl that had been comatose the last week.

Barefooted, on a pile of rubble, she stood with the wind whipping around her form. The gown around her form was in tatters, only covering what it needed barely. The wind created a halo of hair around her head, and as she turned, the source of light was evident.

Her eyes were glowing a bright white.

The bed and computers were destroyed, thrown to the side like paper. A gapping hole stood behind her in the wall leading outside. The lights were hanging from the ceiling unevenly, and sparks emerged everywhere.

She saw them, and lifted her hands up swiftly. Like nothing, she rose into the air, face still blank as ever.

Suddenly, Jean let out a moan of pain and held her center, falling to her knees. Rogue's hand was pointed in her direction, beaconing forth invisible powers. "She's draining my powers!" she exclaimed, holding her head.

"How is she even doing this?" asked Cyclops in exasperation, looking like he too was wincing behind his visor. He had bent to help Jean, but wasn't helping.

Kitty held her head in pain, Laura and Logan almost collapsing from it as well. Her hands pointed in their directions, pulling the strength from all of them. Her next victim of Storm fell as Xavier looked at her with pain.

"Rogue, stop this now!" he yelled through the noise.

"Rogue is gone."

They looked to her, most of them relying on one another for support. The voice escaping her mouth was inhuman, sounding as though it was a computer. It wasn't her voice at all.

"The Rogue you know is gone forever," she continued. "I now have control over her body, and all of its powers."

Logan grunted. "She could never take powers without touching us before," he muttered, out of breath as it was.

"Maturing her powers to their full extent was easy," said the voice again, her face never once showing a thing. "This is what Rogue really has behind everything. Her powers are those of others—everyone else's. She can do anything. And with all of your powers, she will be unstoppable. The perfect weapon."

Her hands wavered towards Magneto, and even he bent as she drained him, the twins following his lead. Out of breath as well, Storm stood. "Where is Kurt!" she exclaimed. "He was here!"

"I am taking the mutant known as Nightcrawler with me, as well as this body," said the voice. "They will of great use to me."

Finally both of her hands raised towards the professor. "All of your powers I need."

Xavier almost fell from his chair, his hands clenching his chair as he bent over, holding back the moans of pain that were escaping his mouth. Storm reached over. "Charles!" she exclaimed from her position on the floor.

Her arms moved around her fluently like in water, lowering to her side. For a moment, her eyes stopped glowing, and she screamed out in agony, as she held onto her form, falling over and curling into a ball. Throwing her head back, her hair grew so long that it was like a cape around her shoulders, coming all the way down to below her hips. As she stood, her height changed was obvious, her muscles filling in perfectly. Ribs no longer shown, and it was like she had never even gone through the last few weeks. She was healthy once again.

She'd aged almost three years.

Her eyes opened again, glowing once more. "The perfect mutant."

And with that, she disappeared in a flash of blue smoke.

The winds calmed, and everything was quiet. With her presence gone, the stillness of the space seemed to stay around like a heavy fog. Finally, Logan stood and looked around. He swore under his breath, and shook his head. "What the hell?"

They were helped up by one another, and looked to each other to see if they were fine. Finally, Xavier sat up completely. "We're all in danger," he whispered.

"What?" Kitty asked confused.

"Someone has control over Rogue," he explained, looking grimly to the floor. "And she has each of our powers—all combined together. With that, you can do anything."

"That's da point."

Heads whipped around, finding the Cajun standing in the door, leaning against the frame as if what happened was nothing. He held a card in his hands, looking at it blankly. "That's what she wants," he explained. His head turned to face them. "Control."

"She?" Xavier questioned.

For a moment, he didn't say anything. Then, almost as if he needed coaxing, he spoke, "Donna," he said. "That's who's doing it."

"Who's Donna?" Laura asked with annoyance in her voice, holding onto her shoulder.

He ignored her, looking over everyone that was present. "Ready for an 'explanation?"

* * *

Yeah, this was a big one. In the next one, a lot of questions will be answered, so stay tuned for updates.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello everyone! Thank you all for staying with me. Hopefully, some answers will be answered in this chapter. I wanted to clear some things up for you, incase there's still a few of you in the dark. None of the X-crew is in this one, but they will definitely be in the next one.

* * *

The laboratory was something she avoided usually. Bella Donna spent her time elsewhere, within the confinements of her rooms, or in the offices of their 'facility.' She didn't exactly like it inside. Grey was the one who liked going in, investigating his work. She was pretty certain that he had a corrupt sense of pride behind everything.

Still, she went when she was asked. It wasn't as if she had any choice. The scientists couldn't exactly do anything without first asking her consent.

She was the one signing their paychecks after all.

As she walked down the hallways, she ignored the sense of creepiness that crept up her spine. Messing with people's emotional lives was one thing, messing with their physical life was another.

Bella was told she was a rather pretty woman. Ironically, it _was _what her name meant. Blond hair curled over her shoulders, and she had a wonderfully round face, with red pursed lips and a cold expression. Her eyes were a crystal blue, that held a piercing cold glare.

She was too pretty.

Walking, her skirted business suit accented her curves, as well as her longer legs. Full busted, and tall, she walked on stiletto heels as she made her way towards her destination. She held a packet of folders within her grasp as she walked, making her way to the end of the hall.

The door was sealed with a lock of fingerprints, the automatic door presented with a hand print for a keyhole. She went over, and extended a beautifully manicured hand. With a scan, the doors slid open, the air-sealed lock making a noise as it did so.

She made a step forward, and went inside.

The tanks were still full like last time, but this time, there was one more. She went over to see the new arrival, looking over the blue form. She raised a delicately shaped eyebrow with curiousity. "This one is male," she said.

"Kurt Wagner," said the voice of another in the room.

Bella looked over to the other presence there. The Indian woman was older, her long hair tightly formed in a twist on the back of her head. She wore a lab coat, and almost an entire outfit of white. Her face wasn't heavily painted, but what was seen was the red mark in the center of her forehead. She held a straight face, glasses hiding her emotionless eyes as she stood over a computer. Dr. Kavita Rao wasn't exactly the warmest person, but she got things done.

She didn't look up when she spoke.

"Formally known as Nightcrawler," she continued, the text of what was in front of her gleaming off the lenses of her glasses. "As instructed, both siblings have been apprehended."

The blonde came over, looking at what she was working on. Only catching a few things, she looked at the female doctor with her. "Come again, Dr. Rao?"

"You'd have to talk to your business partner, Ms. Boudreaux," she said, stepping away, and collecting a clipboard.

She followed, but stayed silent as she saw the other presence in the room. On the freestanding medical table, lay a young woman. She looked to be maybe in her early twenties, and had very pale skin. She had been dressed in what appeared to be shorts, and a tank-top, both form-fitting not to get in the way. Her long black hair was pressed beneath her, a white stripe forming around her face and coming all the way down to the ends. Her feet and arms were strapped down, and she was completely unconscious. Yet, there was a sense of peace within her, as she slept in front of them. It was like she had absolutely no clue of their presence.

She was really very beautiful too.

"This is his adoptive sister," Rao continued, marking things down on a clipboard. Once done, she pulled up a cart with a few things on them. "Quite the remarkable specimen, to be sure."

Blue eyes wandered over the form in front of her, as she came over. "Why isn't she with the rest?"

"Because this one is tricky," was the reply. "Once in the substance, the devise inside her brain will be deactivated. I've been keeping her in a peaceful sleep for now, projecting nothing in her dreams now. Should I allow her to sleep on her own, she would begin to do things subconsciously to defend herself."

Bella looked up to the scientist, as she placed on gloves and took out a syringe and extracting needle. "What are her powers?"

Rao did not look up from her work, as she cleaned her subject's arm, and inserted the needle. As red filled the tube, she was careful with a steady hand. "Everyone else's," she said, sighing. "No one knows her real name, but what we know is that what they call her is a fitting one."

The woman was emotionless as she spoke. "Rogue," she said softly.

The doctor nodded, taking out a filled tube, and then inserting another. "Whomever she touches, will fall immediately unconscious. Her powers are to extract life-force, someone's very genetic signature, and then adapt it into her own. Her DNA mixes with theirs, allowing her to do as they do."

Bella nodded, watching silently as she continued her work. Rao took out the needle, and then placed a cotton swab on the spot. She lifted the girl's arm, and wrapped it in a bandage, keeping it there. "I have to be very careful with her, at least until we're able to mature her powers to their true form."

Her employer looked confused as she stood and took the blood samples with her. Rao placed them inside a tray for the computer, and it closed as it went inside. On the screen above, a blueprint appeared, the structure of DNA appearing before them.

"Spare me trying to figure this out," Bella said, dully. "What does this mean?"

She bent over the computer and pulled up three more pictures. "These are blue prints of humans," she said, calmly. Then the computer showed Rogue's own structure. "What do you notice?"

Her eyes scanned over them, and then she raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "It's slightly different."

"That is the 'Mutant-X' gene, Ms. Bella," she explained. "It's what makes someone a mutant. You are born with it, and once you have it, there is no changing that fact. If I was to mingle and extract that portion of her DNA, her body would shut down and she would most likely die."

Both of her eyebrows raised. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked. "I'm guessing this is making a point."

"To be blunt, yes," she said, with slight attitude. "I can't make her human, without killing her."

"Grey wants her alive—all of them."

"Exactly. Now, I can't do both." She shook her head reasonably. "That's asking for a miracle, unless you or Mr. Grey can alter a DNA structure."

"That's what we hired you for."

"I know that, Ms. Bella," she explained. "But I am telling you, that unless you can supply me with more time—and completely futuristic technology, than I cannot do as you ask."

Bella inhaled deeply, and then placed a hand to her temple. "Do you have another solution?" she asked.

Rao paused, but then nodded. "I cannot alter DNA, ma'am, but I can tamper with it."

Her eyebrows went up. "Isn't that the same thing?"

"No—meaning, I can't change it completely, but I can move along the process slightly."

"Process?"

The doctor sighed, and then turned to her completely. "I can mature her powers to their full extent—I can make each of the mutants that we have in this facility move their classes up by at least three."

"You can move them from a two to a five?"

"Even more."

At this, she smiled slightly. "Daddy will like that kind of power at his control."

When she stated this, she looked away. "Still, tampering with the others will take some time—especially the male."

Bella turned, and looked over to Nightcrawler. "Why?"

"Have you not seen his skeletal structure?" she asked. "That will be hard to tamper with."

"You can change his appearance?"

"I cannot alter his skin color, but I can help his body evolve to look more human."

Both her eyebrows went up as she turned back. "What about the others?"

"I can adapt their powers as well," she said, walking over to the tank. "However, I have noticed something while I was looking over Danvers." Rao looked over the monitor in front of the mutant she was referring to.

She raised an eyebrow, coming up to her. "What?"

The Indian woman sighed. "She is dying."

"Dying?" Bella echoed, brow wrinkling. "How?"

"She has a type of Cancer," she explained, pulling up the records about the woman she turned the screen to the younger woman. "I don't think she had that great of a chance of living when we first reached her. There is a large malignant tumor in her brain. I only discovered it a few moment ago when I did a cat-scan."

She signaled for her to follow, and she pulled up what appeared to be the results from the test she took, the image of a head on the screen. She pointed out the white space, it being extremely large compared to her head. "This is it," she said. "And I am no Nero-sergeant, ma'am. I cannot get rid of this—even if I did, she would be completely brain dead, and her body would be of no use to us."

"Is it a result of the devise?"

"Oh, of course not," she replied. "This was there before we first discovered her. Her medical records clearly state that it was there too, only it was smaller the last time. And it hasn't exactly been long since then. She made no movement to do anything at the time. I suspect she wanted to let it take its course."

Bella still looked over all the areas. "How long until you expect she'll die?"

She shook her head, closing her eyes with regret. "I don't even give her a month—three weeks at the most."

The blond woman looked away, almost annoyed. "Grey really was looking forward to this one's powers." Then she looked back to the woman in the tank. "Resembles me, don't you think?"

Inside, the woman there was about Bella's age. Carol had long blond hair, her skin tone medium. Her body type was normal, but she had slight altercations with the defined muscles all over her body. Other than that, she looked very much like Bella.

"Indeed," Rao agreed, but went to her original point. "But with that, there is a way to keep her powers—even if she does die."

Her employer's eyebrows raised. "Really?" she asked. "How?"

The doctor only took a step back, and turned back to the girl lying on the examination table. Bella blinked. "With her?" she questioned.

"I've done some investigation," Rao explained. "If she holds on long enough to whomever she touches, she could kill them—by extracting all of that person's DNA. And if she only has touched them temporarily before..."

"She's only had their powers for that long as well," Bella finished.

"And if she should hold on long enough to gain all of that life force," she started, looking to her. "She could essentially bind that power to her own DNA. Permanently, she could have someone else's powers. Now, I understand that your partner wanted me to make them human..."

"No, no," she said. "I think he meant 'more human-like'," she said, maliciously looking over those in the tanks. "This is a deal, and I cannot lose the profit that will be made from them."

"So I should get to work on transferring the powers from Danvers? The girl can replace her, you know."

"Wonderful," she said, smile calmer. "Spare her the agony of her long death, and do it. And mature all the others as well—I want them fully operational."

"Of course."

"Daddy wants power, and I'll give it to him." She turned and headed for the door. "Let's not forget the revenge I could have with this though."

* * *

Okay, in case you think you've seen Dr. Rao before, you probably have. This is an offical X-men character, and for all of you who've seen the third movie, she was the lady doctor who invented the 'cure.' She is in the comics, and I thought she would be best for the role of the scientist in this story. She is not evil, or maniacal in any way---she's just doing her job. You'll see how she's a good guy later on. Thanks for reading, and please review!


	10. Chapter 10

Wow, ten chapters already... anyway, if you've been constant with this story, this one should give all of you a lot of answers. It's time for Gambit's explanation, and he'll tell you all there is to know. Please review!

* * *

The assembled few into the room weren't many, but it was enough. Gambit was the last to enter the room, and when he did, he shut the door behind him. He turned, and then looked around to his audience.

Xavier's office was filled with the members of the school, including the teachers. Storm sat down, with Beast crouched beside her. Logan stood with them. All of them were still in uniform, having no time to change.

Some of the others were Scott and Jean, both of them being there when the event of Rogue's disappearance occurred. And of course, Kitty was there as well, along with Laura by her side. They all stood, with the exception of Jean. Out of everyone's powers, Rogue took hers the most.

Well, not Rogue exactly—whoever was controlling her did anyway.

The thief came in, and looked around the room. Before he said anything, his eyes landed on Kitty. His hand came up, and his finger curled in his direction, signaling her towards him. She blinked, and her brow wrinkled a little bit, as she looked over to Xavier.

He only nodded, and she did as she was told. She came up to him, and Gambit bent slightly at the waist, whispering something into her ear. Afterwards, he stood and she gave him a confused look. "Why do you want _that_?"

"Do as he says, Kitty," her teacher told her, nodding as he did so. Obviously, he had heard what he had asked.

With a sigh, she nodded. "Alright."

Turning, she went towards the door, not even bothering to open it as she left by walking right through it. The Cajun smiled and turned to the rest of them. "Now, while she's gone, Ah'd like to give ya'll a' bit o' 'history, so ya know what 'tis Ah'm talking 'bout." His head cocked to the side, as he seemed to be searching the room for something. "Yes, Ah do know who 'tis doin' this," he continued, looking over them all as his eyes roamed around. "And Ah'm almost certain, Ah know why."

"Almost," Logan pointed out.

Gambit paused as he looked at the older man, knowing of his remaining hostility. "'Ear me out," he said, face emotionless. Then he looked to the others there, beginning his explanation. "Incase ya don't already know, ma' last name is LeBeau."

"Of course, ya ask; why is 'e tellin' us this? 'Cause 'tis important," he said, not looking at anyone or thing in particular as he went on explaining. "Like most, Ah was abandoned for the very fact that Ah was a mutant at ma' birth," he explained, gesturing to his red and black eyes. "Most parents would be frightened if their son should 'ave the eyes o'...a demon."

"Ah was raised by thieves, on the streets of New Orleans," he explained. "They were all part o' an organization called the 'Thieves' Guild', and taught the ways of their people. When Ah about... seven, maybe, Ah tried ta pick the pockets o' a stranger—'he just happened to be the very man in charge of da entire organization, and caught me; _mon pére_, Jean-Luc LeBeau."

"He found me to be...impressive, and adopted me' as his only son and heir—to take over his regime when he stepped down," he said, calmly.

He looked over to the door as Kitty appeared, pausing in his story.

The girl came in, holding a backpack that was slightly familiar. It had belonged to Rogue, the very one she carried to school. He smiled and accepted it as she came over to give it to him. "_Merci_, _ma fille_."

She nodded, still looking confused as to why she had even gotten the thing in the first place. But then, she quietly went over to stand with Laura, and listened.

"Only, being an heir and all, Ah had no real control over what 'appened to me," he continued, opening the bag and looking inside. He was careful as he shifted things around, being quiet and practically not moving at all. Still, he continued with his tale. "That included an arranged marriage."

"Ma' bride-to-be was the granddaughter of the leader of the League of Assassins—Bella Donna Boudreaux. Ah had grown to be friends with her at a young age, only to discover she was the heiress to my father's enemy," he said, smiling. "Ironic, _non_?"

Logan looked unimpressed, looking at Storm as if asking for permission to hit him. She gave him a glare, and he listened once more. "Ah never 'ated her, but still, Ah never wanted to marry her. _Mon pére _just wanted to unite the two groups, to ease all the friction. Next thing Ah now, Ah'm walking down the isle."

"Only, before we could even say 'Ah do', her _frère _walks in," he said. Then he made a face, as if he was recalling something he had originally forgot. "Actually, be burst down the door, and killed a few bodyguards."

There was a held back laugh, and they all looked to Laura. She only smirked and closed her eyes, the one to chuckle at what he said. Gambit ignored her, and started again. "He'd never been too fond of the idea, so decided to end the marriage before it began. He challenged me ta a duel—winner takes opponent's life."

He chuckled, finally taking out what he wanted from the backpack. Two playing cards appeared in his hand, and he went over and placed them on the desk. Xavier took them and looked at them calculatively.

But then Gambit turned around. "Still, since Ah am '_ere_, you can _guess _who won."There were glances exchanged, and finally Logan spoke up; the only one with enough pride to say anything. "You?" he asked sarcastically.

"_Oui_," he replied. "Donna was... close to 'er brother—so was 'er family. And for killing him Ah was banished from New Orleans—until Ah 'ad a little help from Chère, anyway. Still, tha' tis besides the point. The main reason Ah'm telling you this is—."

"You think that this Bella Donna is the one behind all this," Beast concluded, speaking up for the first time. He looked almost confused.

"Non, non, I know 'tis her," he said, raising a finger and pointing to the cards. "Tha' tis da reason."

"Cards?" Scott asked, eyes directing at him. His arms were crossed, and he appeared unimpressed with the entire explanation.

"_Oui_, _garçon_," he replied, hand to his chin. "Ah'll tell you why, but first, a demonstration."

He picked up the one card, and showed it to them. "The King of 'Earts," he said. "Ah gave Chère the Queen after she helped me in New Orleans, a little thank you."

Xavier cleared his throat. "I take it they aren't ordinary playing cards?" he concluded.

The thief nodded, and took out a lighter, and another card. "Ah'll prove it too." He lit the lighter, and then held it under the card he took out, letting it drop to the floor. He took a step back, and just watched as the flame consumed the card. The thing shriveled up as it turned to ash, and then eventually going out by itself. "Tha 'twas a normal card," he explained, then took out the king. "And this 'is the 'abnormal' one."

When he lit this one, he took a step back. He looked to those who had leaned in slightly to see. "Ya _might _want to step back," he warned, honesty in his gaze. They followed his warning.

This time, when it started to shrivel, it stopped and then suddenly burst in a small explosion, popping into the air. A few jumped, but Gambit stayed silent and solitary as it fell back down, and went out. Once it went out on its own, he looked to everyone. "See a difference?"

He didn't wait for a reply. "A card is ma' signature," he stated. "Ah 'ad a special deck made ta help me track people. Inside each one, was a small tracking note, almost microscopic." He reached inside his pocket and took out a small devise with a wide screen on it, and a few buttons. Tossing it to Kitty, she caught it.

The girl still looked shocked at his display, but looked at the thing in her hands. "What is it?"

"Tha' tis the unite that displays da carrier's whereabouts," he explained. "Tell me, what does it say about da queen?" He held up the exact card he spoke of.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked it over, Laura leaning over her shoulder. "In Professor Xavier's office."

"That devise 'as a very accurate G.P.S. system installed into it," he said. "It will tell you exactly where the card is, wherever and whatever it is in." He looked over to everyone. "But this tis where things got... messy."

"How?" Logan asked, more curious than suspicious this time.

"Wait a minute, wait a _minute_," Kitty said, almost laughing as she cut off the conversation. "You've been..._ tracking _Rogue?"

He nodded, but shrugged as he gave off an innocent look. "Ah had no ill intentions—Ah was merely looking out for 'er well being, after Ah got this threat."

"What kind of threat?" Xavier asked calmly.

"Ah did not make these things;" He held up the card that was left, "someone else did. And when an associate of theirs found out, they put in something... extra."

"That associate would be this woman you speak of, I'm assuming?" Storm asked, suddenly speaking up for the first time.

He nodded to her. "She made a deal with the people responsible for making this devise, and inserted something Ah never wanted."

"Something... that controlled her."

The group looked over to Jean. She was looking down, emotionlessly covering her face with her hair. She didn't go on with what she said, but the Cajun agreed.

"Yep," he replied. "A small, nano-bot," he said. "Or as they're called. It's purpose is ta infiltrate someone's brain and take control of the nerves that control da body."

"Some kind of machine was controlling Rogue?" Kitty asked with a feared disbelief.

Solemnly, he nodded again. "But it can only take over once the person is weak, and to do that, it subjected her to images in her sleep to keep her awake," he said, his voice went lower, in an almost eerie fashion. "Tormenting her every time she closed her eyes."

Kitty shivered slightly and looked away, but Laura spoke up instead, "How do you explain her not eating?" she asked.

"Simple," he said. "The mind tells the body what to do, and if it tells the body it isn't hungry, she won't be. And with like before, with no food, no sleep...the body shuts down."

"That's why she said she wasn't hungry," Kitty concluded. "Because she _really _wasn't."

"And the thing can only take over completely once it shuts the body down completely for a least a week," he pointed out, looking to the professor.

The brunet girl covered her mouth with a gasp as her instructor spoke. "It's been slowly consuming her brain with her recovery," Xavier whispered, looking away.

"Ya wanted to know why ya couldn't contact 'er?" Gambit said. "It did that too."

For a moment, there was a pause of silence, then the professor looked up. In his eyes was an almost feared type of confusion. He seemed to want to wait until he spoke. "That means there's one inside your head as well."

The others in the room gasped and made reactions of shock. He only grinned, smiling maliciously. "Now we're gettin' somewhere."

* * *

With a sigh, Magneto placed his helmet back on his head. Outside, it was still night. There was a sense of calmness in the air, with the sky completely clear. It was a rather lovely night, but there was a doubt that anyone was at peace. He turned to face the front of the mansion, and his two children. "Both of you are to stay here, and follow Charles' instructions, understood?"

The twins only glanced at one another. "After that, how can you deny that those cases are unrelated?" Pietro asked, almost angrily.

Magneto shook his head. "I do not," he explained. "That's exactly why I am leaving, and placing you two under this roof. This is something I must do alone."

Wanda looked away. "We want to help," she said, calmly as ever. "She _is _our family as well."

He nodded. "I know. Those who took Rogue, also have Lorna. You can guarantee that these people will go after Rogue. Both of them will be together, so go with them when they do find where they are being kept."

She only looked at her father, gaze still upset. "Understood," she whispered.

Her brother didn't say anything as he looked to her. Magneto continued. "We're going to do this as a family," he stressed. His words were caring, but his tone was that of a tyrant. "I don't want any of you three to be controlled like that."

They nodded in unison. Then, their father turned away. "I'm counting on you two."

And with that, he lifted into the sky and disappeared.

* * *

Eh he he... told ya all who the twins are looking for. If you know a little bit about X-men history, you should know who it is. I've been giving hints to the new character I've been trying to introduce. Tell me who you think it is!


	11. Chapter 11

It was quite obvious of the confusion that settled around the room as Xavier had spoken. Each person there seemed to react in one way or another. There was fear, more confusion, doubt, and maybe a little bit of horror. But at what he said, it was still confusing at that. What did he mean?

"What?" Logan came out and hissed. "There's one of those weird things in his head?"

Gambit turned to him and nodded. "_Oui_."

His brow wrinkled with doubt. "Then for all we know, you could be lying for them and making this all up," he said, taking a step toward him.

The thief looked as confident as ever. "Then why would Ah risk my life to tell ya this?"

The older man looked to Xavier. "What's he talking about?"

"The devises can be triggered to kill, can't they?" Xavier asked. His reply was another curt nod. "Him saying something is putting himself in danger."

Logan raised one eyebrow and looked at him. "That noble, eh?"

The Cajun closed his eyes and shrugged. "Call it trying to return a favor," he said. "Chère helped me, Ah might as well do something."

"That's what you meant," Laura said.

Kitty raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Huh?"

The shorter girl laughed, chuckling under her breath. "We found him outside Rogue's and your room a few nights ago, when she had that nightmare that woke the house," she explained.

"You've been hanging around the mansion all the time?" Scott asked with surprise.

"No, just watching over Chère, tis all," he replied simply.

"Why couldn't you say anything before?" Storm asked. "You said that it had something to do with risking Rogue's and your own danger. Why is the threat weak now?"

"'Cause they took her," he replied. "Really, all they were doin' was keeping me from saying anythin' before they got their hands on her."

"How do you know all this, anyway?" Beast asked, suddenly. "Surely you must have an insider's point of view."

At first, he didn't answer. The thief only reached into his coat and took out an envelope. The thing was wrinkled and stained, and it had been sealed with a crest. He took out the letter inside, and turned it to them. "She personally sent me a letter."

Logan came up and took it from him, reading over the cursive handwriting quickly. Xavier leaned forward, "Logan?"

"All it says is that this person is going to hurt something 'very close' to this guy," he said gruffly, nodding to the Cajun. "And it also says that she did something to the cards, and that if he tells anyone anything, she'd kill him and Rogue."

Gambit grinned. "Told ya.," he said, then looked to the professor and held up a finger. "Though there is another reason why Ah couldn't say anything before."

Then he turned to what remained of the card that he had set aflame, and bent down to pick it up. He held it in his hand. "There's one of these things in every card Ah had. Ah destroyed the others when Ah found out about the first two. Ya can really only put one o' 'em in a 'ead at a time, or else ya might as well give up—da brain can't take it."

"Go on," Xavier said.

"Well, the card is the thing that _they _need to spy on us," he said. "That's why Ah gave my own to Chère so that they wouldn't know what Ah was up ta. It has to be within a certain distance of the devise in order for it to work. Since she had hers, they could track her every move. Without it, they wouldn't know when they could go in and make her fall go into that coma. Originally, the thing has only one program—to go in and give nightmares. Once she found the card the other day, and kept it on her, they knew when they could move in."

"So why didn't you take Rogue's away so they couldn't?" Logan asked suspiciously.

He gave him an accusing look. "Ah tried," he said. "Someone kept stoppin' me."

Logan's eyes narrowed and he almost growled, when Xavier spoke. "Do you know where they are now?"

Gambit looked to him, but then shook his head. "Nope," he replied, crossing his arms. "Twas 'hopin' that _you'd _help ma with that one."

He looked between everyone, before back to him. "Do you think that they will do anything to harm her?"

"Doubt it," he said. "They want to use her for more than to get to me, Ah can tell you that. Donna has money, and that's about it. She's had to deal up with someone else, who can get her supplies to do this. Not only that, she teamed up with the guy who rigged the cards. They'll want somethin' out o' her too."

"Using a mutant as a weapon," Laura said suddenly. They looked over to her, all knowing of her past. She looked ahead of herself, emotionlessly staring at the crowd. She didn't blink, or flinch. She didn't look like she was angry at the subject. "It isn't unheard of, using another for personal gain."

The thief didn't question her, but instead turned back to Xavier. "No, Ah don't think they'll hurt her."

"Then we can start our investigation in the morning. Our powers are all weak, and not only that, it's late. Once we get some sleep, I will use Cerebro to look for her." His gaze was cold as he looked at everyone. "This is a matter we have to settle quickly, before anyone gets hurt."

There was a mutual nod. "Gambit, I would like you to stay here for now. Hank and Ororo, please tell the students that they shouldn't worry, and answer all their questions. Just don't say anything about this complicated matter, or who is doing it. We don't want to scare anyone."

Storm nodded, and the thief only shrugged. "If ya say so," he replied.

Then, Xavier turned to the rest who were still there. "As for the rest of you, I would ask you if you would go to bed. We'll all need our rest."

* * *

It was almost eerie laying there that night. Kitty was so used to Rogue's presence in the room, that she had grown accustomed to it. She actually liked it, too. It was nice to know that she wasn't alone in that large building.

But she wasn't there.

Glancing over to the clock, she noted how late it was. It was almost morning. Still, she couldn't sleep. Her best friend... wasn't her best friend anymore. She didn't know if she could deal with that at all. Seeing her like a cold and emotionless machine was horrifying. And to think that she'd been tortured for weeks and she hadn't thought twice about it, sleeping through the night.

Sighing, she threw the covers off her form, sitting up in bed. She placed her feet on the floor, shaking her head as she got up. She wasn't tired in the _least _bit.

Standing, she walked over to the door, going right through it and into the hallway. As she went through the halls, she could see lights on in room, and with some doors open, she saw people turning in their beds. Was anyone asleep that night?

As she walked down the stairs, she made sure not to make any noises as her feet made subtle noises on the wood and carpets. She didn't even know where she was going, but soon found herself in the kitchen. She didn't expect it to be lighted, and for there to be someone inside.

Laura was there leaning against the counter as she ate, what looked like a half gallon of ice-cream. She wore something unexpected, in the very least, what she wouldn't expect. The shorter girl was in a nightgown, short satin in a deep purple. Kitty herself was wearing shorts and a tank, and she thought that she would be the same. She didn't seem that feminine, but she could've been wrong.

She glanced up as Kitty came inside, but didn't say anything. She took another bite, and then suddenly held out a clean spoon.

Kitty blinked, but then accepted it. "Thanks."

"You look like you need it," she said, digging at the carton in front of her. She nodded to the large refrigerator. "There's more in there."

Going over, she took out her another, but then her brow wrinkled. "Is there anything else?"

"Good kind's in the back," the other girl replied, not looking up at all.

She dug around and eventually found a smaller one, coming over after closing it and facing her back to the counter. Pressing her hands against the counter, she hoisted herself up and then sat down, opening the thing as she took a bite of her own. After a moment, she swallowed and then looked at it solemnly. Rogue had liked this flavor.

The girl with her only glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "It's not your fault."

Swallowing again, she looked over with the spoon still in her mouth. "Hm?"

"Rogue—it wasn't your fault."

She took the utensil from her mouth and frowned. "I know."

"You don't look it."

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "How did you know I was thinking that, anyway?" she asked, not defensively, but curiously.

She only shrugged, and stood up completely before she turned to lean against the counter with her back. "I'm supposed to know how to read people, sense things. It gets annoying after a while, actually."

Kitty didn't say anything for a moment. Laura often spoke of her skills attained through her 'training.' Though she didn't appear to be upset, there was a sense of unsteadiness in her voice that was usually there. It was almost as if she was trying to reach out to someone, but no one wanted to ever ask her about it, too afraid of her response.

"Is it... painful to think of what they did?" she asked, looking to her with patience.

"I was taught not to experience pain," she said, staring out into space. She was emotionless like usual as she spoke once more. "It feels wrong though."

"It would to me," she replied calmly. "And to think, that they might do it to Rogue, I—."

She held up her hand and looked to the door. "Our conversation is no longer private."

The figure that had been outside came in, looking unimpressed that Laura had figured out he was there. Pietro only glanced at them, as he walked over to the fridge himself, opening the door. He wore a tank, baggy sweats tied loosely around his waist. A defined muscular chest was seen, but neither of them didn't even much as glance at him.

"Not that I was trying to spy, I don't care about what you say in the first place," he stated, looking through things. "It's not as if anyone in this place can sleep with this heat."

"Except Bobby," Kitty muttered as she dug into the container she held.

"Is there anything decent in here?" he asked, annoyed.

"There are sodas in the cupboard," Laura said, sneering as he looked at her over his shoulder.

He raised an eyebrow. "I forgot, this is a _school_."

She rolled her eyes as he walked over to where she had directed him. "Impatient as ever," she hissed, not minding his presence in the very least.

Their usual adversary turned around looking offended as he glared at her. "I don't exactly _want _to be here alright?" he stated bluntly. "Be thankful I'm at least being calm about it."

Her eyebrows went up. "This is calm?"

Kitty kept her mouth shut, looking between the two with wide eyes as she ate her ice-cream. She thought it wise to stay silent as they exchanged blows. It was as if they had automatically started to duel the moment they were together in that hall earlier that evening. She didn't want to interfere, too afraid their anger would be directed to her.

Laura continued to talk. "No, you don't want to be here, but Daddy insists because he doesn't want you getting into trouble while he's away," she said, giving an innocent face. "How tragic."

His face remained cold as he opened the soda, and took a sip. "Just so you know, that's not the only reason I'm here," he retorted courtly.

"Oh, I'm sure Xavier would love to find out about that," she said, not even bothering to offer him a glance.

"He already knows."

This time, she looked up, the sarcasm in her surprised face completely and totally obvious. "No, really?" she asked, wide eyed as she put a finger to her chin. "To think that he would actually know a thing or two about what other people are thinking. Is that what a psychic does?"

Pietro's eyes narrowed, but before he was about to say anything, Kitty spoke up. "Another reason you're here?" she asked, curiously. She glanced over to Laura smirking maliciously, but then looked back to him. She didn't want this discussion turning into a fist fight.

The silver haired young man's gaze fell onto her. "Yes," he replied calmly. "We have another reason for being here."

"I would assume you mean your sister," Laura drawled.

"Xavier does know," he continued, ignoring the other girl there, "or else he probably wouldn't have let us stay."

"Probably."

Again, Kitty glanced over to her female companion. It was almost as if she got some sort of pleasure out of getting him angry. Then, the brunette looked at him once more, placing down a half-eaten carton of ice-cream. "What is it then?" she asked with a shrug.

For a moment he didn't say a thing. He was silent, his gaze without emotion and his body calm. He placed down what he held, and crossed his arms over his chest. "We're looking for someone."

She was taken aback, a look of confusion crossing her features as she looked at him. "Okay... could you be any more vague?" she asked, sounding a little sarcastic herself.

In Laura's direction, a scrapping noise was heard as the girl tried to finish the last of the contents of the container she held. Swallowing the last bit, she placed her spoon in the sink, tossing the carton away without even a glance, the thing landing inside the trash perfectly.

She turned and looked at them. "Not that this isn't fascinating," she said, raising her arms behind her head to stretch them. Her muscles flexed and her knuckles cracked as she brought her hands forward again. Kitty couldn't help but notice that Pietro was watching her intently. "But unless you can indulge me with something a little more entertaining, I'm going to bed."

With her hands to the side, she started to walk out of the room. Pietro's eyes followed her movements. "What if I said it was my sister?" he asked.

Even Kitty looked over to him with confusion, the other girl present stopping in her tracks. Laura looked over her shoulder. "Come again?" she asked.

He smiled as he faced her completely. "Half-sister," he corrected himself. "Lorna."


	12. Chapter 12

I know it's been a while since my last update, but this one is good. I'm reveiling another character in this one.

* * *

Gambit was never one for sleeping at night. Actually, he hardly ever slept normally at all. There was never time for a regular sleep cycle, with his life anyway. And lately, he hadn't had much time to sleep since he had to keep a constant eye on his charge. Nights weren't optional for rest. Usually, if he was lucky, he could sleep in one of the trees outside one of her classrooms, and that was during the day.

So, when actually getting a bed, and a relatively safe place to stay for a while, a great weight lifted from his shoulders. He even got himself a hot shower, and a relatively comfortable bed. It was a luxury that he'd gone without for a long time.

He knew that he had to be on alert, and that he had to stay cautious. With Chère now in Donna's hands, he didn't know what to expect next. Heck, with one of those things inside his head, he didn't even know if he'd wake up the next morning. He couldn't truly rest.

And there was the aching fact that he had let her down. There was that gnawing feeling in the back of his mind, telling him that he didn't stop it. He hadn't protected her enough, not to stop her from getting hurt. He didn't even know if she'd ever truly be back to her own self now.

Things weren't turning out how he'd wanted them at all.

He had to fix this, had to make things right. Even if it was selfish to let himself have one thing of luxury, but he needed to build up his strength. He couldn't let what happened to her happen to him.

Because he'd need his strength to protect her.

* * *

A smile etched onto the face of the man as he stood over the form laying on the table. Rogue was sitting up, though back slightly, still bound and sitting perfectly still. An oxygen line had been placed in her nostrils, wrapping around her face to her ears. Injected into her arm was an IV line, wires with suction cups lined around her forehead.

Monitors were set up all around her, giving off readings that were stable. Rao stood behind her, making sure the last wire was attached to her head securely, with gloves on her hands, before she stepped back. She glanced up to her employer as she went to one of the many screens, typing in a few things. "This is a simple test, sir," she said. "I'm merely making sure that she is in healthy condition before the transfer."

He waved it off. "Of course, doctor," he replied. "I am simply watching."

She nodded, and looked down. "I would think that the transfer itself would be more entertaining," she commented, as she looked back and forth between her patient and the monitor. "I'm only prepping her for the maturing of her powers."

"You're doing that before the transfer?"

"Yes. Once her powers are matured and stable, it will be much easier and safer to transfer them. Until that time, I've made sure to keep Danvers in stable condition. The other three are next in line for maturing after her." She nodded to the girl in front of her.

The man with them nodded. "If you think it is best, then go ahead."

She glanced back down to her work, but continued just the same. "You also wanted me to make them look as humanly as possible, correct?" she brought up.

"Yes, I recall saying that," he replied. "Is there a problem?"

"No, not at all," she said, finishing and pressing one larger button.

The computers started to do something, and she stepped away. She gestured towards the other direction, motioning for him to follow. She went up to the tank that Kurt was slackly floating in. He looked like he was simply asleep as well, slumped over with an air mask on his face. She started to interact with the screen in front of his tank. "Though, I have a question about Nightcrawler, as they call him," she continued.

"Go ahead."

"Well, as you can see, his skeletal structure is very unique, with his tail and three fingers per hand and foot," she commented, hand to her chin.

He looked to her with a raised eyebrow, as if wondering what she was leading up to. "Of course..."

"According to the records we have about him, and the information that we gathered about his birth from our other subject," She gestured to the other blue form floating beside him, "we can almost be certain that he wasn't born like this. It believe that he had normal features, but somehow they were changed. I may be able to change him back, but that may be all."

His brow wrinkled in confusion. "Why?"

"Well, his DNA structure is already unstable," she replied. "Changing it back will take patience, and some time. Afterwards, he'll be extremely weak and I wouldn't be able to do anything else without him possibly dying."

He nodded in consideration. "Don't want him dead, do we?"

She shook her head. "No. Now, the other one; Darkholme," she started, walking to the front of the other tank, next to the first. "She is practically completely matured." She shrugged. "There are only slight altercations I need to make. Usually, it would be a wonder how she got that way... but when I looked her over, I discovered something."

The man crossed his arms. "Yes?"

Rao inhaled, but then looked him in the eye. "She is more than one hundred years old."

He looked impressed. "Is she now?" he asked. "Impressive. She doesn't look it, does she?"

Closing her eyes, the doctor shook her head briefly. "There aren't many changes I can do, is my point," she said, changing the subject entirely.

He inhaled deeply. "Well, then you won't," he said. "And Dane?"

"Since she does look practically normal," she started, going over to the last screen and tank. "I didn't see the need to do any appearance alterations. But I can magnify her powers."

There was a chuckle. "Magnify," he echoed. "Your words are quite ironic, Dr. Rao."

"I meant nothing by it, sir," she said, nodding to him. She kept her gaze down, before turning away once more. "Should I proceed?"

"What classes are they at right now?"

"Wagner and Dane are now three," she stated. "Darkholme and Rogue are four."

"Can you move them all up to a five?"

"If Rogue absorbs Danvers, she'll be a six."

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought that class was impossible, doctor," he commented.

"Naturally, sir," she replied. "With help, she can become a six. She will be probably the most powerful mutant in existence."

"There will be no other one in a class six?"

She shook her head. Then, she walked over to one of the man computers, and typed a few things. "When we transported her here, she absorbed quite a few other mutants' powers. This is a list of the mutant, and their powers. I can make it so that those powers are completely absorbed like Danvers' powers."

"So, she'll have _them _permanently too?"

She nodded curtly. "Just select the few that you wish for her to have."

He smiled deviously. "Perfect."

* * *

"Can ya... Ah don't know, untie me now?"

Sitting up as much as he could, the Cajun was laying back on a medical table. His arms were braced to the sides, straps buckled down like belts, as the table came out from the machine that it had been in. He had willingly agreed to the tests, but not to be tied like a prisoner.

Storm came over with a slight grin on her face. "It was only so you wouldn't move around," she explained, fingers moving quickly to release him. She raised an eyebrow. "We didn't harm you in any way, did we?"

Beast, who at that moment was wearing a lab coat along with a pair of glasses, limped over with a clipboard in his hand as Gambit managed to get to at sit. "We only did a cat-scan and x-ray to your head," he explained. "Nothing that major."

He sighed, rolling his shoulders back to adjust them as he shook his head. "Not gonna see anything," he replied. "The thing's real' real' tiny."

"We know that," Xavier agreed as he wheeled over to their group. "That's why we're doing our best to locate this devise in your head. It is not safe for anyone for it to remain where it is."

The thief shrugged. "Do what ya what," he said. "Ah thought Ah was supposed ta help ya'll find Chère."

"Well, finding Rogue is one of the reasons why we're going to try and take it out," Storm replied, arms crossed after she handed him back his things and trench coat. "Or in the very least we can deactivate it."

He raised an eyebrow, standing as his arms went through his coat. "Come again?"

Xavier glanced over to his two teachers. Beast cleared his throat, coming over beside him. "I am not a brain sergeant," he said out of the blue. "So, removing it won't be a matter of anything physical."

Gambit still looked confused at what they were saying, but looked back over to the professor. "So yer gonna try to take it out?"

Hands pressed together, he closed his eyes and nodded once. "That _was _the plan," he retorted calmly. "Once your mind is clear, I may be able to tap into some of your memories that may be vital to finding Rogue."

The Cajun nearly laughed. "Good one, prof," he chuckled. "But Ah've never been to the place where they're keepin' her."

"I know that," the older man said. "But the only thing we can do is try."

The thief inhaled deeply, placing his hands into his pockets as he exhaled the same. "Okay, if you say so," he commented. "Tell ma' what ya need me to do ta help."

* * *

While the laboratory was indeed dark, there was some light in the room. From each one of the four tanks, light was glowing out from them. But when looking at them, only three of them were filled.

All other equipment and computers were on, the lights on the devises clearly showing, even through the pitch darkness. The only thing different, was that the form that lay on the medical table was sealed inside a glass case, with an air mask on her head as well. Not only that, there was a blanket covering her form.

The door opened, and heals clicked against the tile floors as the woman went over to a computer. She turned on the screen, and typed in a few things, the brightness of it shining of her glasses. Rao turned to the tanks, eyes falling onto the one farthest to the end. It was the one that was now empty. For a moment, her eyes closed, but opened them and made a straight face, going over to the row of her patients.

All three of them were stable, and in perfect condition. That was wonderful, exactly what her employers wanted. It didn't mean she didn't have a say in what happened to these creatures. Even if they were mutants, they had rights not to be treated like vermin.

Quickly, she went over to the tank second from the other end. The form inside had been the first mutant she worked on, and the first that she had finished. She wouldn't let all of her hard work and determination be spent on what was planned for her.

She typed in access codes, all kinds of clearances that she needed. With a few requests, a robot inside clasped the form of the mutant inside. Soon after, the liquid had been drained out, leaving her hanging limply like a doll. The glass lowered, as did the bottom of the tank. She was there with a towel to wrap her form, skin and hair still wet from the substance.

Carefully, wrapping her arm around her own shoulder to act as a human crutch as she limped over to the screen, wincing from her dead weight. She typed in a few things with one hand, and the tank closed and filled up once more.

Rao crouched to the floor, the weight of her patient pulling her down. She pulled the mask off her face, and checked her vitals. This mutant would not see the fate that had been planned for her.

But then, suddenly, she moaned. Rao turned to her, and held onto her face, supporting her head and shoulders. Her face was drawn with confusion, as she wanted to speak to her, but didn't know how to address her. She knew of her attitude towards her real name. Finally, she thought of something to say to her, "Mystique."

The blue mutant looked the same as ever. Her shoulder length red hair was bright, the dampness making it cling to her face. She wore the same tank and shorts as the other two female mutants held in the facility, skin prickled with the goosebumps from the cold.

Her eyes blinked, slowly but ever so surely she woke from her slumber. Yellow eyes gazed around, finally taking recognition of where she was, and what kind of situation she was in. She saw the doctor for the first time, and was struck with anger. She tried to lash out by moving her hand, but she moaned with pain as her limps ached and stung when she tried to move them.

"Don't make any sudden movements," she replied. "Your body still is adjusting itself."

Her brow wrinkled. "Where–where am I?" she asked out of confusion.

"I can't tell you exactly," she replied. "But you are in my laboratory. You have been for months."

Her eyes widened, leaning on the other woman for support. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"Dr. Kavita Rao," she replied sternly, breathing out as she tried to lift the weight of her once more.

Mystique stayed. "No, wait," she demanded, looking around. "Where am I–?"

She stopped as her eyes fell onto the mutant that was floating in the tank that had been next to her own. She gaped, letting go of the woman for the first time as she rested on her arms for support, almost falling to her face. Longingly she looked to the form, hand reaching up to touch the glass. "Kurt..." was a whisper on her breath.

Rao managed to get up and nodded, adjusting her form. "Yes," she said, swallowing. "That's your son."

Her head whipped around, a frustrated fear in her eyes. "Wh-what have you done to him?" she asked, barely speaking at all. She looked back to him. "He's..."

"Almost normal."

Mystique's eyes locked with the doctor's as she stared up to her with confusion. "Why?" she asked. "Why did you do this? He was fine before."

Rao inhaled as she closed her eyes. "Ask your _other _son."

The mutant gaped at her. "No," she said, tears in her eyes. "_He_'s doing this?" She hid the tears that were falling as she braced the tank with both hands, coming up to a sit as she tried to hug the form inside through it. "I never wanted this."

For a moment, a look of nervousness crossed the Indian woman's face. She came over, and bent behind her to pick up the towel that had been lost. She wrapped it around her shoulders. "Please, I need you to listen."

"Why!" she screamed in tears as she turned to face her. "This is my son!"

"Because he'll do worse if you don't." Rao looked over to the other corner in the room.

Mystique's gaze followed her own, and her eyes fell upon the image of her daughter. She gasped, and held her throat. "No, not Anna," she whispered. "Not my little girl."

She held onto Rao to get herself up, the good doctor helping her over to the form that was lying there. The mother put her hands on the glass, and then her cheek. "Oh, darling," she said, the other woman's arms around her the entire time. "I'll get you and Kurt out of here."

Rao looked around. "Listen to me," she said. "I'm going to need your help on this. I can't help you save them right now, but I will as soon as I can. What I need for you to do is get out of here, and get me help."

She looked up to he, anger and confusion in her eyes. "What do you mean?"

The doctor swallowed, eyes closed, before she looked to her straight in the eye. "You're going to have to trust me—a human—to help you."

* * *

Sirens waled throughout the entire facility as hundreds of men ran along the halls. Lights went off blinding all who passed, and noise was enough to make ears drums throb. Their suits were pressed, and guns loaded as they all ran in one direction. Leading them was their boss, the one supporting the entire experiment.

He growled as he went into the lab, only to find something he had wished he hadn't. One of the tanks had been completely broken open, from the inside. Dr. Rao was lying on the floor amongst the fluid and glass, but seemingly alive.

Grey ran inside, and looked around. He expected one to be empty, as it had been vacated that morning. But another tank was empty as well, and of the one mutant he had the highest security on. "Damn!" was the curse on his lips.

Soldiers already were helping the doctor up. Her arm and face were torn with scars, and she coughed to get the liquid from her chest. "She...she woke up and crashed through the tank, sir," she explained, voice harsh. "Her mutation helped her to resist."

He made a face. "After her!" he screamed to those behind him. "I don't want anyone _not _trying to locate her!" He pointed to the one holding Rao. "You, get her medical attention, but the rest of you move!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

* * *

Told ya I made Rao a good guy! She'll be an even greater one in the coming up chapters. 


	13. Chapter 13

For all of you who've been dying for a Rogue scene, one's in here. Sorry there haven't been many in the last few. I did that on purpose. You'll see why later. For now, just read please!

* * *

Chapter 13

With a sigh, Storm shook her head. She crossed her arms across her chest gently, as she turned her head to face those in the room with her. Up on the light box were both sets of pictures that they had taken of Gambit's head. She looked doubtfully between all of the three standing with her.

"We have no way of proving that he was telling the truth," she replied. "None of these scans show that there's any sign of this so called 'devise.' You'd think after a week we would have located something."

The sound of the motor in the professor's wheelchair answered her, as Xavier came over to sit beside her. His eyes wandered between all of the images that were displayed in front of them. "Yes, I'm quite aware of that," he replied, a hand at his chin. Still, then his gaze went to another one of his teachers. "Hank, what have you found?"

Beast came limping over as usual, but this time he carried a book with him. Still wearing his coat and glasses, his gaze went from the images, to the book, and then back again. For a few moments he studied it. Then, he went over, and pointed to one of the cat-scans. "The devise should be right here."

There was a grunt behind them. Logan chuckled. "Should," he stated.

The other teacher continued, ignoring his comment. "I took a few images of the cat-scan, at different times. And there was a different pattern around this area when I narrowed into it." He gestured to the area in the center and back of the brain. Then, out of a folder, he brought out another image. There was a large, blown up version of the area he had spoke of. "What can you see?"

Storm's eyes squinted as she leaned in further to see what he was talking about. The others there did the same, as he used a pointer to locate the point that he was trying to show them. "Right there."

Xavier seemed to smile. "Well, there it is."

Logan chuckled, as he stepped up to it more closely. "The punk was telling the truth."

* * *

"What is it with you and high places?"

Gambit merely glanced over to the form that approached him. After the little 'examination' every morning, he had been given clearance to roam around the mansion and grounds as he pleased, but that didn't mean he was in peace. There will still all of the students running around, and that day was a Saturday after all. He thought he could get some quiet on the roof, to clear his thoughts.

But he forgot there were other _mutants _in the building.

He glanced over to the girl that came over to him. The brunette had become quite annoying, to be honest. She had always foiled his plans to take the queen from Chère by walking in at the wrong time. He knew she hadn't done it deliberately, but still it was aggravating just the same.

Kitty came over to the side of the building, next to where he was sitting. She looked at him suspiciously, and kept even and silent footsteps. She had an almost defensive look on her face. He didn't blame her; he had been 'stalking' her best friend for a few weeks.

At her question, he looked out to the city once more and paused. "A thief likes high places," he explained calmly. "'He can see everythin' from up high. Up 'ere, 'e can do many things—mapping out action, devising a plan, calculate movements." He turned his head to face her. "See where the enemy comes from."

"So you're playing lookout?" she asked.

"If ya wanna call it that," he replied. Tiredly, his eyes looked out to the landscape in front of him. "Ah call it being cautious." He turned his head to look at her. "And what do Ah owe the 'onor of this visit, _ma chatte_?"

Uneasily, she crossed her arms. She kept her gaze away as she stood there, shrugging softly. "Nothing too big, anyway. I just wanted to know why you were doing all this."

There was a pause of silence, were words were not exchanged. When he didn't say anything, she looked at him from the corner of her eye. He was looking at her as if her was surprised, and a little confused at that. She averted her gaze; his eyes were too piercing and scary. She never understood how anyone could stand being with him that long.

With a shiver, she sighed and spoke once more, "She told me why you kidnaped her that one time," He didn't have to ask who she was talking about, "and she said that she helped you to save your dad. But all this seems a little _too _extreme for repaying her."

It was then she finally looked him in the eye. She had brought up the courage for her friend. "You're risking your life for her," she said, brow wrinkled with confusion. "And I should be thanking you for protecting my friend this far. I'm grateful, really," She sighed, "it just seems that you do so much for no reason. That's a little strange."

At her words, he looked back to where he had been looking in the first place. He had to admit that what she was saying was true. It was probably why everyone was so hostile. Another silence settled over them, and he broke it once more.

"Have ya ever done somethin' that ya regret?" he asked quietly. Not once did his tone linger from its emotionless state. "Somethin' that ya'd give anythin' to fix?" She responded with only one simple nod. "Would ya want someone else hurt for it?" As he asked his last question, he looked at her. "And if ya knew it was yer fault, and you could fix it, would ya sit there and let things happen, or would ya do somethin' about it?"

She stared at the ground in thought as he spoke to her. "What would ya do?" he asked. "Wallow in yer guilt, and let that someone close to ya hurt, or fix it yaself?

Kitty stayed silent as she stood there, arms crossed in front of her like she was hugging herself around the waist. Her voice showed nothing when she finally did answer. "I'd do anything to fix it," she said, looking up sadly. "Even if that meant risking my own safety."

"Then we agree, _petite chatte_." Again, he looked away and rested his chin on his fist. "It seems we share the same view." He merely smiled. "She is very lucky."

Her gaze snapped up to his face. "Why?"

"To have friend such as ya to care for her," he replied, a sense of honesty on his face.

She seemed to smile at this, but then a look came across her face as if a thought, that she had up until then forgotten, struck her. "You said you fought that guy? That Bella woman's brother?" she asked. "His name was Julian, right?"

"Correct."

"Well, she said that when you took her to save your dad, there was a man named—."

"_Ton beau _is waitin' for ya," he said, bluntly cutting her off before she could finish, nodding in front of him.

She looked out to where he was gesturing to, seeing a familiar form standing in front of the gate. Kitty seemed to brighten at the appearance of him, and turned to head back inside. Just before she left, she stopped, and turned to the thief's back. "Rogue would like that you were doing this for her." It was as if her previous statement had been forgotten.

As she walked away, he stared to the horizon. "Let's 'ope that."

* * *

"Lance?"

The young man was startled at the sound of his name. Hair and clothes the same as usual, he appeared like he always did. Except when he turned to face Kitty, she saw the worry on his face. Instantly, she blinked with concern. "Is everything okay?" she asked as she came over to stand in front of him.

He made a face, and looked over his shoulder to the corner down the block of the street. "Ah... well, kinda?" he offered, face strained. He tried to look serious, but then glanced away and shoved his hands in his pockets. "It might not be anything, but..."

Kitty still looked at him as though she had no idea what he was talking about. With a raised eyebrow, she listened to what he was saying, and then nodded. "Go on," she commented.

"Well, you are okay aren't you?" he asked. He looked a little worried at this. "I mean, after what happened last week?"

Slowly, she nodded. After the little 'incident,' what went on was a small earthquake, according to the public. Xavier hadn't wanted people to worry about what was going on. He really didn't want the parents of the students finding out either. The school year was almost over, and most would be leaving anyway.

But at his attitude, Kitty noticed how he was acting a little funny. "Is there something you want to tell me?" she asked curiously. There was concern in her eyes as she cocked her head to the side. "You seem anxious."

Shrugging, he avoided her gaze as he looked away. "Well, there might be something," he said. Again, he turned to look behind him. "Actually, you might want to call the professor."

She raised an eyebrow with suspicion, but then saw as a few forms came around the corner. Her eyes widened and she gasped.

* * *

The feeling was strange. It was complete bliss, wonderful peace. The feeling was that of nothing, a freedom that she had never experienced before. Weightlessness, numbness, there was no feeling whatsoever as she remained in that state. She was completely happy that way.

But, for some reason, she was restless.

Part of her really wanted to stay that way, but as she did, the more the other part wanted free. She wanted to experience something other than that feeling. She wanted more, to feel, to move, to think, but there was really nothing she could do.

There were brief times, when the silence would be broken. She had gotten quite used to it actually. A kind voice would speak to her, and tell her things. It guided her through things, and kept her knowing that she was still there, just lost.

She wanted to be found.

But then, finally, she was released from the nothingness. She clearly saw herself move, breath, walk. She saw other people, she saw things; machines, people, bright lights, but never herself. She acted without thought, for she wasn't thinking in the first place. Her body moved on its own.

And then she saw it, the blond hair. It was the woman, the one that she continued seeing through her dreams and mind. For a reason, she walked towards her. As she approached, she continued moving closer, and closer still until finally.

She touched her.

And after that, all she saw were pleading blue eyes, and an agonizing scream. It was so loud, she wanted it to stop. She wanted it to go away, that it horrified her so. But it wasn't the woman who was screaming. She was screaming, and couldn't bring herself to stop.

* * *

The second Rao saw the girl fall, she took off the headset she wore. She took off the microphone, and moved all the cords out of the way as she quickly typed in things to the computer. The automatic door to the test room opened with a hiss, and she nodded to her two assistants.

The younger two scientists were no more than students, but they were doing as they were told. They followed her as they went inside quickly, running over to the fallen mutant. The young woman went over to Danvers, laying on the bed motionlessly. The young man went over with Rao as they picked up their patient, leading her limply over to the table once more.

Silently, she laid her back into the pillow, and pulled out gloves as she set the girl up to the monitors. The female assistant came over beside her, only looking her instructor straight in the eye for a second before to the form they were taking care of.

"Melissa, she would have died painfully otherwise," Rao commented, as she took a syringe from the young man. Her gaze was on her work, and nothing else.

She nodded silently. "Yes, I know."

"We have to keep our other three alive," the Indian woman continued. She didn't look up as she extracted blood from the form in front of them. "And to do that, we must do as we're told."

Again, she nodded. Then, she swallowed. "What shall we do with the body?"

This time, she looked up. "I'll see to it," she replied, before going back to the task at hand.

The two looked at each other warily, but didn't question their advisor.

* * *

The door to what was left of the hospital in the mansion opened, and Xavier came inside followed by his teachers. He went over to the bed laying in the center of the room, to where Mystique was lying, unconscious. What little clothes she had on were torn and dirty. Smudges were over her face and skin, but other than that, she seemed unharmed.

"Where did you find her?" the professor asked the young man as he came over.

Lance scratched the back of his head. "She... found us?" he tried.

"Well," Toad started, standing with Blob and Lance in the room. They looked out of place in the mansion. Kitty was there as well, having brought the three inside when found them carrying the mother of her best friend. "Around four o'clock, she pounded on the door."

"And when we answered, she collapsed," Lance finished.

He nodded, Storm going over to look over the scratches she carried. "She looks like she was traveling by foot through woods," she said, observing her condition. "Did she say anything?"

They looked at each other, then Lance spoke up. "Every so often she'd wake and start yelling out for 'Kurt and Anna'," he replied. He made a face. "She'd exclaim 'he has them, he has them' or something to that matter."

"Yeah, she would shake and stuff," Blob commented. "Then she'd fall asleep again."

Beast and Storm glanced at each other. "Kurt as in her son," Ororo commented blankly.

Kitty made a face as she raised an eyebrow. "Who's Anna?"

There was a moan from the form in front of them, before anyone could say anything. Mystique moaned as she breathed out deeply and tried to open her eyes. "Anna Marie," was a harsh whisper on her lips. Eyes still closed, she swallowed and cleared her throat with a cough. "Rogue."

"You saw them?" Logan asked. "Where?"

She nodded, breathing in. "Both of them, and another."

"What did she look like?"

Looking over to the door, the twin siblings had appeared. They were blankly looking at the scene, those of the Brotherhood whispering to one another about them being there. Pietro looked to Mystique for an answer.

"There was another girl," the woman said. She opened her eyes finally, looking to the ceiling. "But I didn't recognize her. I had to leave instantly; I didn't look at her long."

The siblings glanced at each other. Xavier glanced over to them, as the Raven continued. "A doctor helped me escape, a woman. She was Indian," she stated eyes squinting with a wince. It looked like it was difficult for her to breathe. Her words were random, completely rambling on. "It was a laboratory, we were all in tanks and there were so many computers..." Trailing off, she inhaled deeply as if it hurt, but still continued, "They did something to me, to Kurt!"

Eyes wide, she looked around with horror. Storm placed a hand on her shoulder as she tried to sit up, keeping her down. Tears almost came to her eyes. "What did they do to him?"

She blinked back the tears. "They... changed him."

Teachers looked at each other, as she started to shake slightly with her sobs. She clung to Storm's arm like a life-line. Xavier looked over to Kitty. "If you would, will you escort these young men outside?" he asked, almost hopefully.

Smiling, Kitty turned to her boyfriend, the boys looking taken back by this side of their formal leader. "Come on, I'll take you to the door," she said weakly. There was a worry in her eyes.

They left and the door closed behind them, but Pietro and Wanda remained. Neither of them appeared to want to go anywhere. Beast looked over to them. "I think it would be best if you both waited outside," he cautioned, seriously.

There was a hesitation, before the young man turned to his sister. "Let's go," he said, looking a little angry of what he was asked. His promise to obey was what made him agree.

"We will tell you what you would like to hear when we're finished examining Mystique," Xavier said, not looking at them.

The door closed automatically as they were gone, and the professor went over to sit behind the head of the table. The mutant was still crying, breathing heavily as she lay there. "Mystique, I'm going to read your mind right now," he told her, hands rising to the sides of her head. "I'd like you to relax."

* * *

AN Just a little note for all of ya, Anna Marie is Rogue's real name. If you want to back me on that, look it up. I honestly got it from another sourse, so I didn't make it up. Most of my names are not made up, just like with a lot of others. Thanks for listening. Please review!

French:

_petite chatte_ little/small cat (feminine)

So when Gambit was calling Kitty this, he was more or less calling her a cat. Just like Logan gave her a nick-name, I thought Remy should do the same. Oh, and there's a reason that Gambit never calls Rogue, well, Rogue. Try to guess--it will be explained in a later chapter.


	14. Chapter 14

Jagged Fate 14

* * *

Her state of peace was something she enjoyed. It required no thought, no consciousness, no decisions, and no pain. There was nothing in that state. There were no words, no sounds, nothing to see, and more importantly, nothing to feel. It was a feeling of complete bliss, nothing at all.

Still, all feelings like this had to come to an end.

The feeling stopped when she felt herself suddenly pulled down. She was heavy, her body incredibly lagging. She was limp, limbs sagging down to the service she lay on. She was on her back, she felt, and her head was propped up, but supported nicely. Legs elevated, and form relaxed, she noticed that there was a slight prickle against her skin. She was cold.

Rogue held back a shiver, as she forced her eyes to open. Slowly, she pushed them up as they fought back to fall again. But in the end, she won and her eyes looked forward to the world around her. It was fairly dark, with lights around it. At first her eyes only allowed her to see shapes, and finally they cleared and she looked around slowly.

The room was spacious, that was all she could say. It had no windows or doors, only blank walls. Above her, was a square of darkness, surrounded in that of light. It cast a shadow in the middle of the room where she lay. Her eyes could not see past anything else, so she was forced to move her neck.

Her head went to the side, where she could see a needle attached to her arm, pumping some kind of liquid into her veins. Its source was a computer, and from inside she saw a liquid container. The computer next to it wasn't facing her, but it made noise and beeped slightly, humming the melody to match her heart. The monitor wasn't facing her.

Turning the other way, she found her other hand to be limp at her side. Every so slowly, she closed it and it tightened into a fist. For some reason, it felt strange to her. Already sitting up, with the inclined mattress beneath her, she winced as she pushed herself forward to sit. She was about to get up, when she noticed that something was holding her back.

Underneath a blanket, a strap fastened her to the table. She couldn't get up even if she wanted to. Her arm was still attached with the IV, and she didn't want to risk injury. Not only that, there were quite a few other wires in other places.

It was then she noticed that she looked a little different. Her hands went to her hair, the length falling down to her hips. Her skin was darker, only slightly. She couldn't see her face, but felt its difference. Downwards, her chest had increased in size, waist smaller. She looked underneath the blanket, finding her legs to be a tad longer than what she remembered. What had happened to her?

Again, she looked around. There was one door, and what looked to be a large window. Both were closed, so she couldn't see anything but the room. Breathing in deeply, she closed her eyes and laid back again.

Where was she?

Wherever she was, she was in serious trouble. She winced as a thought came to her, putting a hand to her head. Her last memory was... Kurt! She looked up and bit her lip. What had happened to him? After seeing him standing over her, everything was black. Well, except that one thing, the one with that woman, the one that—!

She held her head in her hands as another memory struck her, the blond hair flashing before her eyes. She cried out in pain, and tried to turn into the mattress. Desperate, she grabbed the pillow to cover her head. Her head hurt like someone cut it open, the agony pouring out of her skull.

Before she knew anything, she heard a hiss and then footsteps. Hands and arms grasped her, and held her down as she experienced her pain. There were voices that she didn't recognize, and then one that she swore she heard before. Then, like it had never happened, the pain was gone and she relaxed.

The pillow was pulled away, and she was adjusted where she lay. Gloved hands brushed hair away from her face, and caressed her face. There was a voice that called her own. It was friendly, maternal, and she accepted it. Looking up, she opened her eyes finally to see a woman.

She was Indian, her skin dark with her heritage. Hair was twisted into a bun on her head, and she wore a long lab coat. Over her eyes were glasses, her appearance normal to the eye. Her face was blank, but in her eyes was a look of nurturing.

"Anna," she said to her. "Anna, please listen to me."

Rogue's breathing steadied, from its rapidness during her attack. She swallowed, and then looked to the other two forms. It was a young man and woman, only a few years older than she. She looked back to the woman, before she muttered something, "Wha?" she breathed out, brow wrinkling tiredly. Suddenly, she was really very tired.

"That is your name, isn't it?" she replied, looking very serious. "You're real name? Anna Marie Darkholme?"

Her eyes widened, and she furiously shook her head. "No, no, not Darkholme," she responded, breathing becoming harder. "Just Anna Marie."

The woman nodded. "Well, Anna, I am Dr. Kavita Rao," she said slowly, as though she was speaking to a child. She held onto her in a semi-hug, making her feel secure. "I will be taking care of you for now."

She nodded to the others. "This is Melissa and Jacob," she instructed, showing the other two to her. "They will be helping me. We are not going to hurt you at all."

Rogue breathed in heavily, and looked back to her. "What did you do to me?"

Her eyes were growing heavy again, as there was an answer. "You'll see when the time comes," was a soft reply. Blinking, she tried to stay awake. "We sedated you, Anna. You're going to get sleepy. Go back to sleep."

She wanted to stay awake, but her body beaconed for rest once more. And then, she felt herself go back into her world of bliss.

* * *

"It seems ironic, how this is all connected," Xavier pointed out to his teachers.

Sitting in his office, the four of them had gathered around to see the results of their newest guest's mind. Like usual, Logan was to the side, with the other two sitting patiently in front of the desk.

The professor sighed, and closed his eyes as he leaned forward on his desk. There was seriousness in his eyes as he spoke. "Mystique, apparently, was also apprehended by unknown individuals. About two months ago, she went into a state similar to what Rogue went through."

Logan's brow wrinkled, as he looked over to the others there with him. "Her brain was controlled too?" he asked, sounding like he didn't believe it.

Xavier nodded, but Storm was the one to reply. "What did you see?" she asked.

"Well, she saw Rogue when she escaped," he responded with a sigh, as he leaned backwards. "She also saw Kurt, and the things that were done to both." An uneasy look was exchanged. "They did genetic experiments on the two."

There a small curse as Logan shook his head. He angrily looked between them. "Bastards," he growled. "Who the hell would do this kind of thing to them?"

"Scientists," Xavier stated, wheeling over to the screen that had previously shown Carol Danvers' face. Another one came up, of an Indian woman. She wore glasses, and her hair was neatly up. "This is the woman that helped Mystique to escape. She was a fantastic geneticist, and was known for her work with DNA."

Beast raised an eyebrow. "Was?" he asked almost fearfully.

Xavier made a face as he held his temple. "Well, she mysteriously disappeared from her job about six months ago," he explained. "There was sign of a break-in at her home, but no struggle."

"They gave her an offer they couldn't refuse," Logan laughed, almost sarcastically with a hint of anger still on his face.

"I'm guessing that she no longer wanted them to go through any torture, and helped her to escape," the professor explained.

"Why is she in this state?" Beast asked, referring to Mystique. "She's not in her right state of mind."

"No she is not," he answered her. "That is a result of some of the trauma she went through. While there, she was kept inside of a tank filled with liquid, to keep her unconscious and to keep her from escaping. The substance inside was different than water, and had a difficult after-effect. When you finally wake up, you are wary and all emotions are hit at once. She is acting merely on instinct."

"Seeing both children like that can do it to a mother," Storm mused quietly as she looked to the ground.

The professor nodded. "It is a lot to take in when fully conscious as well," he stated firmly.

"What exactly did they do?" Logan asked emotionlessly. He was staring into space.

Xavier closed his eyes. "To Rogue, nothing to be seen...but what was done to Kurt, well," he sighed, "that's a different story."

* * *

Looking at him in the face, he appeared no different than usual. His longer hair framed his blue face, that was calm and slack with sleep. He appeared to be as he normally did, but he was different.

If one looked hard enough, it was apparent that fur no longer covered his body. His shoulders were broad and structured, muscles accentuated and more defined. He was older, by two years at least. But there was something major about his appearance change.

Trailing down to his hands, it was now see that there were five fingers on each hand, all sized normally and perfectly alined. His back was straight, and no longer did a long tail extend from his tail-bone. Feet were no longer apposable, a straight arch in each one. Five toes were each alined at the end of each foot.

His body structure looked like any other human.

The man that stood in front of him smiled. "Now, doctor, I must say that you have overdone yourself with this one," he commented, turning to the woman that stood beside him.

Rao was typing away at the monitor next to his own. Inside was a young woman, unconscious like her cell-mate. She was younger, maybe sixteen of a average height and build.She was even fairly pretty. The only thing distinctly different about her was that long, lime green curls flowed out around her head like a halo. It was obvious it was natural, her eyebrows matching in color.

The older woman sighed. "Please, sir, I do not wish for praise," she replied, a serious face seen as she looked on. Her fingers worked quickly, as she didn't show anything that she was working on. "Both of them are complete," she replied. "The only one that I am not done with is the last one."

He smiled almost devious, and looked to the corner. The mutant spoke of was not present. "Where is she?"

"I moved her into solitary confinement," she replied, as dully as ever. "I will do a scan in a few days, but I'm almost certain her powers are rejecting the devise in her head."

He raised an eyebrow. "But you are keeping her contained?"

"That is why I moved her," she replied. "Finding out what happened to her brother might make her lash out. With the powers that we already imprinted in her DNA, she could counter-react at any moment. We need to keep her calm, and content."

Grey nodded. "Of course, doctor." He looked back to the forms. "And these two?"

"I'd advise never waking them unless you use them," she replied, looking at the screen and fingers pausing as she read. "Or else they might try to do something."

"Like?"

She finally turned her head in his direction, raising an eyebrow. It looked like she was asking him if he was kidding her. "With their powers?" she asked. "They might try to escape."

He smiled. "We don't want that, now do we?"

* * *

"What are you doing here?"

Gambit looked over to the other form that approached the position he was standing in. The former comrades exchanged a look. He was leaning against the wall outside of Xavier's office, waiting for the meeting inside to adjourn. Of course, he had wanted to know what they were talking about, but he couldn't listen through that thick of a door.

He smiled like usual, cocking his head to the side at the younger man. "Wouldn't ya like ta know?" he asked. Pushing himself off the wall with his feet, he kept his arms crossed.

Pietro raised an eyebrow as he started in a direction. Turning and following his movements, he spoke again. "I have my reasons for being here," he said, bluntly. There was almost a curious annoyance in his eyes. "What's yours?"

The thief stopped, but didn't turn around. "_Pardon_?"

"I meant staying in the building," he replied, plainly. He nodded to the door. "He's made sure I can't go anywhere, but you're free to go anywhere. Why are you staying?"

He chuckled, and started walking again. "And where would Ah go?" was the only reply.

There was a smiled that appeared on the younger mutant's face. "Why not go and save your girlfriend?" There was no edge in his voice at all. He wasn't trying to strike a cord, not trying to irritate. He only wanted an answer.

That made him turn. An eyebrow was raised. "_Pardon_?" he repeated, more harshly this time. "Ah would 'ardly call her _ma belle_." He inhaled deeply, before exhaling to speak. "And where exactly would Ah find 'er, eh?"

He shrugged, and turned to the door. "Why don't you ask who already knows?"

* * *

(AN) Ah Ha! I finally revealed what they did to Kurt! Please review, and tell me what you think!


	15. Chapter 15

Okay, yeah, so it's been... a year (begins to cry). I'm terribly sorry for the delay, but I've really been busy with work and school, and then there was the whole being away for a few months... anyway, hope all my readers are still out there, and I really hope you stay with me. Please? Anyway, please review, and tell me what you think.

--Aries

* * *

Jagged Fate 15

* * *

The room was silent as the three scientists stood around the machine. It looked to be a simple cat-scan, with a large dome incasing a medical table inside. Lying on the bed-like table was none other than their subject.

The young woman's eyes were closed as her chest moved up and down. Arms to the side, she didn't move at all. Wires were attached either by needles or suction cups. She was wearing the regular tank and shorts, a shoe-like slipper on her feet. Young, not even in her late twenties yet, she had long dark brown hair, a streak of white around her face. Although usually her face was heavily covered with make-up, it was clear. If it had not been for the moving of her chest, she would have appeared dead.

Dr. Kavita Rao was standing with her male assistant next to the large machine. She typed in things into the keyboard positioned to the side of the computer, the screen reading off various things as she looked at it. Her assistant recorded things as he stood there, holding a clipboard in his hands. Another person was to the side, the younger woman waiting for the procedure to end.

Inside the dome, a band of light went across the body inside, up and down a few times, beeping as it did. Their patient never moved, just lay there sound asleep. The only difference in her usual appearance was that she had no blanket on, and straps held down her arms.

Rao was silent as she looked over the information in front of her. Her eyes didn't stay in one spot as she read, not even for a moment. But then, she finally did look at one area, and her gaze hardened. The young man with her looked up, but didn't say anything.

"According to this," she answered, without having him ask anything. "The maturation was a success."

He seemed confused. "We were aiming for that, weren't we?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, but this thing has been wrong before hasn't it?" she asked, smiling knowingly.

"What's your point, doctor?" the younger woman asked curiously as she slowly came over.

Rao looked over to her second assistant with a blank and yet curious stare. Melissa was cowering, face to the ground as she stood with her hands clasped in the corner. The girl had been silent for a while. Ever since the last procedure, she had been acting strangely.

The woman scientist at first didn't say anything, but finally answered, "We must test to see if it worked," she replied.

Both of her assistants glanced at one another warily. Their superior went over to the machine, and typed in a few things. The table that held their subject slid out carefully, and then stopped in front of her. Rao simply lifted her one hand, and snapped her glove off. She looked to the two with honesty. "Now," she said. "If I faint, then I know that it didn't work."

"Doctor?" her assistant said, horror on her face. "Is that wise?"

She nodded. "Melissa, even the best scientists test out their own work," she said, her bare hand going towards their patient's skin.

Her shaky hand moved ever closer, but before she even got there, a hand lashed out and grabbed her.

* * *

It was weird seeing her passed out. Actually, he really hadn't had too much of past experience with the woman, but from what he could tell, she usually had a head of authority on her shoulders. At least, that was the impression he was under. Well, at that moment, Mystique definitely didn't seem that way.

As he came into the room, he noted the security camera that was looking right at the bed where she lay. After all, she wasn't really an 'X-Man,' so who were they to trust her fully yet? He still didn't even know what those scientists did to her. Who knew what she'd do if left completely alone in the mansion?

Gambit walked over to the side of the bed. She was in a deep sleep, passed out being the proper term. They'd given her a hospital gown, and cleaned her up. She was hooked up to most of the things that Chère had been, and all of them looked relatively normal. Still, he looked over to the blue-skinned woman and stood next to her.

So, this was the infamous mother. It was a little ironic how both of her two children were taken like she had been. Shaking his head, he looked at her form with a little pity. She'd been screaming last night, he heard her when she woke and the others came to see her. She was hysterical, saying how that 'he' had 'them.'

The question was, was who was 'he'?

Only Xavier seemed to know that. When the professor had read her mind, he had gotten quite the look on his face. How did Gambit know about that without being present? Well, he had his ways of seeing things without being in the room.

It must have been incredibly terrible, the things Mystique had seen. She was entirely broken down. He didn't know why her children hated her. She did nothing but love them, in her own strange and demented way.

It was more parenting than he had ever gotten.

Shaking his head, he chuckled silently before he turned to leave. Only, before he could do anything, a hand reached out and clasped his wrist. His head whipped around to the form in the bed, the heart monitor speeding up only once as he saw her eyes open slowly.

Raising an eyebrow, he stayed quiet. He wasn't entirely sure on what to say to her. The last few times she woke up, she had been raving mad. At that moment, she appeared calm. Her yellow eyes looked around, as she firmly kept her grasp on his arm.

"I'm in the Xavier mansion," she said quietly. Her voice was rasp. He wasn't sure if it was a question, or a statement. If it was a question, he left it to be a rhetorical one.

Mystique stared up above her, blinking a few times before she closed her eyes tightly and moaned. She swallowed harshly before she mumbled something, "Water."

Her grip loosened enough, and he looked around the room. He went over and found a sink with a few cups. He went over an filled one, coming back over to her lounged form. She was half sitting up, and half lying down. He brought the edge of the cup to her lips for her to drink. She took a long gulp, before she breathed in and turned her head. Gambit took it away, and put it down.

For a moment, she just lied there. She breathed in through her nose deeply, before she exhaled and opened her eyes. Then her gaze turned to his. Her brow went up, almost as if she though she thought someone was joking with her. She cracked a smirk. "Why are you here?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

For a moment, he just looked at her. He was debating things to say in his head. But before he could say anything, she turned to look at the ceiling. She sighed heavily, a look of disappointment in her eyes. "Don't tell me, I might already know."

Hr cracked an amused grin. "Oh, really?" he asked, eyebrow raised. "And, what may t'at be?"

Mystique looked over with narrowed eyes, glaring at him. "Funny," she said, words rough. "We both know, so why don't we save our breath a little?"

As she asked the question, she looked over herself. "Well, at least they were nice enough to treat my wounds," she muttered as she looked at her arm, injected with a needle that led to an IV.

She snarled at it, and reached over to pull it out with a wince. With a strength that he didn't think she should've had, she pushed herself up, resting her weight on her arms. The blue-skinned woman sat up and shut her eyes, but shook her head and pushed away the many cords and wires attached to her body. And with that, she pushed the covers off her legs.

It was then that suddenly it hit him. What was she doing? With a look of surprise, he went over to the other side of the bed; the side of the bed he was on had a bar so she wouldn't fall off. He held up his hands to stop her. "'Old on t'ere," he stammered. "Ah don't tink le prof wants ya goin' anywhere."

She looked at them with disgust, pulling them out and away from her. Almost angrily, she looked at him. "So I'm guessing that you aren't going to come with me?"

He raised an eyebrow, giving her an almost challenging look. "Pardon?"

Mystique then smiled frighteningly nice. She gave him a look of knowing, and crossed her arms, ignoring the flat-lining monitors that were going off behind them. "Anna," she finally stated. "Are you going to help me find her, or stand there?"

Blinking, he watched as she tried her best to get out of bed. Her hands on the mattress beside her, she stretched her legs out until her feet touched the floor. Slowly, she moved her weight onto them and stood, only for her knees to give out.

He didn't know why, but he jumped to catch her. He held her at a distance, but took a hold on her upper arms. She closed one eye in a wince and cursed under her breath. Gambit glanced up to the security camera. "You know that they probably know," he told her.

She shook her head not looking at him. "I don't care," she stated. "They have my children, and I'm going to get them back."

Gambit looked to her with a wrinkled brow, for a moment trying to figure out what to do. He did want to help her, but wasn't exactly sure what the others would do about that. He wasn't exactly supposed to leave. They hadn't even removed that thing from his head yet. Who knew what Bella could do with that still in?

Still, he felt a little pity for Mystique. Not only that, he wanted to help Chère. He owed her that much. The longer they waited, the more they allowed those people to get away with their plan.

Mystique then snarled at her attire, finally gaining strength in her legs. He felt an eyebrow go up as he saw the hospital gown melt into her usual black attire. Her hair was perfectly done, and her clothes were straight and clean. The sight in front of him didn't surprise him. This was Mystique after all.

Gambit turned and looked at the camera staring at them, and reached inside his pocket.

Mystique flinched at the crash that followed and turned to look at him with a wrinkled brow. Then, she noticed he was looking at something else. Her gaze turned to the devise that had been monitoring her, now sparking and broken, pieces on the floor. A card was the reason, imbedded in what remained of the thing. Then she looked back to him. "Well, at least you aren't stupid," she stated with a great amount of candor.

He gave her an amused look. "Should Ah take that as a complement?"

She shrugged, but then glanced down. "I can't walk just yet," she said, looking at her feet with irritation. Then she looked back up and stared him in the eye. "I need you to be my feet, and I'll be the navigation."

Before did anything else, he glanced to the door. "If we do 'tis, we do it ma way, non?"

For a moment, she gave him a glare, her lips pursed. Gambit crossed his arms. "Ah'm ya only way outta 'ere," he stated. "And they'll be 'ere in a few minutes. Ah'd make up ma mind, if Ah was ya."

"I don't know what she sees in you."

* * *

The screen held a good image of the hospital part of the mansion. It carefully watched the subject in the bed, even as she woke and spoke to her visitor. But as she began to get up, Mystique showed a little bit of fire in her words towards Gambit. The camera only saw the thief reach into his pocket, before there was a loud crash and the screen was masked with static. Then, it went black.

Xavier turned off the viewing screen as he looked to the group assembled in the room. Logan and Storm were standing, most of the others sitting. Jean was there, as well as Scott, Kitty, and Laura. Surprisingly, also standing in the office were the twins, normally considered to be enemies. They were towards the back of crowd, not looking at their adversaries, but listening.

"Well, you can guess how she managed to escape," their professor stated as he looked at them.

"Where are they going exactly?" Scott asked with a brow wrinkled.

"To retrieve Rogue and Kurt, I believe," Xavier stated, clearing his throat. "But more importantly, they are going to visit an old acquaintance of Mystique's. He is the one responsible for all this trouble."

"So you know who it is?" Jean questioned almost hopefully. "That's been doing this, I mean."

"Yes," was her reply. "I've known since I read Mystique's mind. Who it is really is of no concern, although right now, I'm more than a little worried about Kurt and Rogue. Mystique is mentally unstable at the moment, and I'm afraid that if she should strain herself too much, she'd do something rash and danger Rogue and Kurt — even if it was unintentional."

The professor held his temple with a finger, letting out a sigh. Storm looked as though she knew what was wrong, and asked on it. "Are we to move out?" she asked.

He simply nodded. "Right now, even if they did run off, Gambit and Mystique are going to need some help. And hopefully, we can get to the bottom of this kidnapper and stop him."

"But where exactly are we going?" Kitty asked with concern.

"Actually, somewhere close by."

* * *

Eh, he, he... (laughs evilly and begins announcer voice) Has Rogue finally awoken? Where will Gambit and Mystique save her? What have they done to the others? find out next time on...Jagged Fate! (precaution, things are gonna start to make sense soon, and get a little...mature?) And yes, I know I'm evil. Please review!


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